


Through the Storm

by Aecoris



Series: Demon Dean Series [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Croatoan/Endverse, Brotherly Bonding, Caring Sam Winchester, Croatoans, Demon Blood, Demon Dean Winchester, Gen, Platonic Soulmates, Protective Dean Winchester, Survival
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-17
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2018-04-21 04:20:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 174,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4814819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aecoris/pseuds/Aecoris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Third story in my DemonDean series. After a failed escape plan from the Croats, Sam and Dean are defenseless and surrounded. Separated from their friends, they struggle to survive alone in a world that becomes more dangerous every day. For the first time, they are left without a shelter and an unclear future. They must learn to adapt quickly to the elements...or they won't survive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The sun reflected and glistened against the waves, the wind warm but consistent, just what Sam preferred on a summer day.

Sam closed his eyes and breathed in the scents of summer. It wasn't the ocean, but this lake was close enough. They didn't get out much outside of going to the bar or hunting down some nasty monster in the woods, so this little break was near perfection.

"Got your rabbit food, don't cry if you don't like the dressing. They didn't have 'low fat Italian' so I got some other shit."

Dean was walking away from the Impala, which he parked on the grass. His green eyes radiated happiness and even though Dean wouldn't say it, Sam knew he was enjoying this mini-vacation as much as him.

Sam smiled at his brother even though he didn't remember asking Dean to go out and get food. Come to think about it...he didn't remember coming to the lake either. His whole brain felt kind of foggy. What hunt had they been on before this? Maybe he was just tired...or hungry. Yeah, he just needed to eat some of the food that Dean had brought.

"You should have seen the girl at the counter," Dean said, sitting down in one of the two fold up chairs they had by the water. "The size of her…"

"Okay Dean enough!" Sam swatted at his brother and took the offered food. Something still felt a bit off, but Sam could feel himself relaxing more. There was no need to worry right now. Everything was perfect. He and Dean were on a break from hunting, the weather was beautiful and they were in an amazing setting.

Listening to the sounds of the water and the happy families also taking advantage of this day put Sam's mind at ease. If something were wrong, Dean would notice it too.

A football came flying through the air and landed at Dean's feet, disrupting the brothers' peace. Dean grabbed the football and stood up, looking over at a young boy who had started to run over to them.

For some reason the kid looked very familiar, although Sam couldn't recall where he had seen the boy before. Something briefly flashed through his thoughts about the child's game Candy Land. Before Sam could connect the thoughts, the memory was lost.

"This yours buddy?" Dean called out to the kid, not seeming to recognize him like Sam did.

"Yeah!" The boy held out his arms, signaling for Dean to throw the ball.

"Alright. Get prepared, I have a pretty awesome throw if I say so myself."

Sam watched Dean and the boy play catch, feeling uncomfortable. Something was off about Dean's interaction with the kid. It didn't seem right. But Dean had always loved kids, there was no reason Sam should feeling like Dean wouldn't be this kind to the boy. Dean's laughter and smile should be a natural thing and shouldn't worry him, yet it did.

Maybe Sam needed to get himself checked out. Was he having some kind of memory lapse or something? When he tried to think of memories, why did it feel like his mind was trying to claw its way out of a fog?

"Come on Sammy." Dean was waving him over with a smile. "Have some fun little brother."

Well...why not?

He jogged over and Dean reached up and ruffled his hair before backing up to throw the ball. They tossed it back and forth, Dean teasing him over his 'wimpy throws' but also complimenting Sam when he made a perfect throw.

"There you go. Nice one Sammy. But you did learn from the best."

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother and vaguely wondered where the boy went off to. He would want his football back that the brothers had basically taken from him for their own amusement.

He glanced around, expecting to see the boy nearby...

The sight that greeted him instead made him immediately drop the football and reach to pull out a gun...except he had nothing on him.

It was...it looked like Dean...but it couldn't be. Not when Dean was playing catch with him right now. And Dean certainly wouldn't look like this...

The thing had black eyes but Dean's face….a face that was disfigured with burns and scars, but nonetheless, was still easily recognizable as Dean. Sam studied the figure up and down, noticing the other mutilations done to the body…the thing was missing an arm and patches of hair, it had one ear nearly ripped completely off. The rest of the body looked like it had been ran over by a car and dragged along the road.

Shouldn't this gruesome sight have him revolted? Shouldn't he be running away right now?

But for some reason, Sam wasn't scared or disgusted. He noticed the horns on top of the Dean-like head and a tail that looked like it would be on a horror-movie version of a demon. Was this thing a demon? It did have black eyes…but demons didn't look like this. They looked like normal people. They didn't have horns or a tail and have injuries….their powers would have healed them.

He looked back over at his brother who was trying to signal for Sam to throw the ball, completely oblivious to this thing that stood near them. "You okay Sammy?"

"Yeah, just hurt my arm…give me a second," Sam lied, turning back to face the person, or creature that had appeared.

"Sammy, you gotta snap out of it," the thing said as soon as Sam locked eyes with it, sounding just like Dean, but a little hoarse, like when he was sick. "I swear, trying to find you in here was like walking through water or something. Your mind's all fucked up, not that surprising after what we just went through."

Sam had no idea what this… _Dean? Demon? Hallucination?_ was going on about. He shook his head, taking a step closer. Usually he would be on guard, but there was something inside him that told him not to worry, that it was safe to be close to this thing.

"You with me now?" the thing asked. It seemed worried, the expression on its scarred face was still easy to read. It looked just like Dean did when he was really concerned about him.

"Who...who are you? Why are you wearing my brother's face?"

A mixture of emotions passed over the thing's face before it shook its head and looked Sam right in the eyes. "That's because I am your brother. It's me Sammy."

Sam shook his head as well. "My brother's right there." He turned and pointed to where Dean stood, not seeming to care or notice that Sam was chatting it up with someone he couldn't see.

"Come on Sammy, I know he's way prettier to look at than me, but that guy's all in your head. Deep down, you know I'm your real brother, why else would you be talking to me so calmly even when I look like this?"

This…demon…version of his brother did have a point. Sam hadn't even felt afraid when he had showed up. There was even a comforting presence about this Dean despite his mangled appearance. He glanced back at his other brother…

"You're dreaming Sam," the demon Dean spoke. "Wouldn't you rather have the real thing?" He gestured to himself. "Even if that thing is damaged beyond repair, it's better than something fake and perfect, right?"

Sam noticed how nervous the demon Dean seemed, how desperate and self conscious. He wanted to say something comforting, but instead he found himself saying something else entirely.

"That was the cheesiest thing I think you've ever said."

Demon Dean looked taken aback for a second before his face broke out in a grin. "Yeah, well I somehow got through saying it without throwing up. The things I do for your stupid ass..."

That…that right there was a Dean Winchester response. But if this was somehow Dean…then what about the other one?

"You with me now Sammy?" Demon Dean was asking. "Come on, we gotta wake you up and get back to our wonderful Croatoan life."

"Croatoan?" Sam wrinkled his brow. "That case we went on? What are you talking about?"

Demon Dean looked exasperated. "You still don't remember? Shit Sammy, you better not have amnesia on top of all our other problems. Think through it…come on. Get your head out of this comforting dream."

"I don't…I don't remember…I don't even know what we," Sam pointed to the other Dean, "were even doing here at the lake."

"Yeah, because it's a dream dumbass. You weren't here for any reason, your mind made it up. Don't try and think about any of it, just try and remember the real world."

Sam should have been offended by Dean's language toward him. Sure, Dean wasn't the most polite person, but he never spoke to him like that. But for some reason, he wasn't upset. It seemed normal in a way that shouldn't be. What if this Dean was the real one and everything he was saying were true?

"You have to help me out," Sam told him. "If this world I'm in really isn't real, tell me about the real world. Help me remember."

Demon Dean huffed. "I went to Hell to save you. Turned into a demon. You sent Lilith back to Hell. The demon's unleashed Croatoan. We stayed at a hotel. Alastair captured me and you saved me. Our hotel got attacked by Croats and when we were driving away, you crashed the car. Now you have a concussion and won't wake up." His voice was short and irritated through the whole explanation until he had gotten to the end. When he talked about Sam not waking up, his voice cracked just a bit.

This really could be Dean. And the story…while Sam couldn't exactly remember it…it did seem familiar.

"Come on Sammy!" This time it was the human Dean that spoke. He held out his arms for Sam to throw the football. "Don't be a wuss little brother, show me what you got."

"I know this must be relaxing and peaceful as hell Sammy, but we can go toss around some football when we're back in the real world and in a safe place," Demon Dean said. "And hey, in the real world you get a brother with awesome demon powers."

He couldn't keep procrastinating; he was never the type to do so. He had to make a choice.

It was easier than Sam thought to make a decision. He dropped the football and walked over to the demon version of his brother.

To say Demon Dean looked relieved was an understatement. "Okay good…that's the first step. Now you just have to remember. Your mind seems scattered doesn't it Sammy?"

Sam couldn't deny that. "It's like I can only get so far when I think. I know things aren't right but I don't know why. I think they're still there…I just can't reach them, I get lost before I do."

"Okay. Good, good. You don't have full-blown amnesia then. Nothing permanent. Concussions can cause temporary memory loss. We just gotta get you to somehow trigger your memories..."

Demon Dean was rambling...which was such a typical Dean thing that he did when he was overwhelmed. It was too much for Sam to watch. He always tried to comfort his brother when he was distressed. And if he was going to believe that this was his real brother...then he had to try.

"Dean..." Sam reached his hand out and as soon as he placed it on Dean's shattered shoulder, his head filled with blinding pain. It was like a switch had been flipped in Sam's mind. Suddenly, he could remember everything.

"Dean? How….what…" Sam gasped, watching as the other Dean vanished and the dream landscape became a surreal quality. The only thing that seemed real and solid was Dean.

The older brother let out a sigh of relief and visibly relaxed. "About damn time you snapped out of it. You were knocked out Sam, I couldn't get you awake so I had to try and get into your dream."

"My head…it's pounding…I just felt fine a few seconds ago…"

"Yeah, that was your mind protecting you by burying itself in this little relaxing paradise dream. My guess is you're starting to wake up and that's why you're feeling the pain that you actually have." Dean shrugged, trying and failing to not look concerned.

However, Sam could tell just by the look on his brother's face that he was insecure about the dream Sam had been having. A dream that had included him in human form. But Sam had chosen Dean over the fake version; he had to see that right?

"Dean…about this dream...I can't control it and it doesn't mean…"

"It means something Sam. It means it's where you feel safe."

"That's not true! I chose you! The real you…"

Dean cut him off. "I'm not going to waste time now talking about your mind's fantasies. We have to get you fully awake. You're gonna have to fight through the pain, no matter how bad it gets."

"Okay." Sam silently agreed to drop the subject for now, but he was definitely going to talk to Dean about this later. "But how do I wake up?"

Dean shrugged. "I don't know. Just...think about waking up?"

Alright, he could do that. Sam scrunched up his face and focused all of his energy on concentrating.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Dean asked in bewilderment. "You look like you're shitting yourself!"

"I'm trying to wake up! Feel free to tell me how to correctly concentrate so I can get out of here!"

"I don't know! I don't even dream anymore! Just…stop thinking about it so much!"

"Then I just stand here and hope for the best?" Sam didn't want to panic. He knew his brother couldn't do anything about the circumstances, but he desperately wanted to wake up. They were in a dire situation and he needed to be back in the real world to help Dean fight off the Croats. Dean had mentioned that they were safe, but Sam doubted that would last for long.

Dean's face suddenly lit up and Sam knew he had something planned.

"Okay, this is gonna sound cheesy as hell, but listen up."

"I don't care how cheesy it is, as long as it works," Sam admitted.

"Okay, so you know how you got your shit together when you touched my shoulder? Well maybe it's this..." Dean scrunched up his face disgustingly, "soul-to-soul contact shit that helps you."

Sam couldn't help but smile a little bit. "Aww Dean, is contact with me really that gross?"

Dean didn't joke back like Sam expected him too, in fact, he looked a little sad. "No, just…stop. I…come here."

Sam took a step forward and Dean put his one hand and then with a moment's hesitation, his stump, on his brother's shoulders. Even though Dean basically  _had_  to do it, Sam couldn't even explain how nice it felt to have some physical contact given by someone he loved. He was always one to bump shoulders or offer a comforting hand, but he knew it made Dean uncomfortable.

So this…he would take what he could get and be grateful for it.

He actually felt himself calming down, the tension releasing from him. Maybe Dean was right…maybe this would….

His head exploded with sudden pain and his eyes shot open. The park and lake flickered out of focus, being replaced with what looked to be a living room of an older house.

"Stay focused Sammy! Don't fight it! You gotta wake up, you gotta…"

With a startled gasp, Sam opened his eyes.

* * *

**_One hour earlier…_ **

Despite Dean's screaming, Sam still hadn't budged. Blood continued to drip down his forehead and it was obvious he was out for the count. Probably had a concussion.

But that wasn't what Dean was worried about. Sammy was breathing, he would be okay as long as Dean could wake him up. What he  _was_  concerned about was being able to get them both out of this car safely without getting bitten.

A hand reached for Dean through the shattered window of the upside-down car. He growled at the desperate Croat and reached for the arm, snapping it upward and ripping the thing off at the elbow.

Blood sprayed out onto Dean's shirt and luckily the Croat backed away, some instinct that remained in its infected brain must have told it that trying to reach in with its other arm would result in the same outcome.

Dean could sit here and repeat the process if it were only a handful of Croats. But he could hear the sick moaning, it was getting louder. More and more Croats were certain to come, attracted to the loud noise they created by crashing the car.

He had to get them out now. It was their only shot. He had to teleport as far away as he possibly could and make sure Sam was in his arms when he appeared outside. Sure, there was the chance he'd teleport them right in the middle of an angry swarm of the monsters, but what other choice did he have?

He would just have to hope for the best. Maybe….maybe they'd have luck on their side for once.

Dean focused on their bags that they had thrown in the back seat and were now sitting on the inside of the upturned roof. He couldn't forget those, not when they contained a supply of food, clothes and weapons.

Unbuckling is seatbelt, his head hit the roof and he somehow contorted his tall body so he was sitting on it. He put one backpack on and flung the rest over the shoulder of his bad arm. They pulled on it and sent some pain all the way down to his fingertips, but he'd just have to fight through it and ignore it.

Now that he had that settled, he just had to grab a hold of Sam and hope that he focused enough that when he teleported away, Sam would be over his other shoulder when they reappeared.

The growling was much louder now. Dean took this as a good thing. Maybe if there were a lot of Croats around the car, there would be fewer wherever they teleported and they'd be able to make a break for the nearest house.

There was no use in waiting any longer; more Croats were reaching for him, and more importantly, for Sam. Dean grabbed onto his brother's arm, closed his eyes, and focused.

A second later, Dean appeared with Sam over his shoulder, about 300 feet from the car. It wasn't as far as he knew he could teleport, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

There were about two hundred Croats in the area, with a few only five feet away. They noticed the brothers and screamed, lurching forward.

"Shit!" Dean teleported himself again, not knowing what else to do. In his panic, he reappeared a bit closer to the car, with Croats on either side of him.

One of the monsters reached out toward him and Dean tried to duck. He knew he hadn't been quick enough when he felt something tugging on his bad arm. Pain shot up his up but he ignored it and attempted to yank himself away, causing the Croat tumble to the ground with one of their backpacks.

Shit! Dean went to reach out with his powers to grab it, but it was difficult to focus while he was in such a panic and trying to balance Sam in his arms. Another Croat reached out grabbing onto Sam's hair and that's when Dean decided to fuck it.

He focused one more time and made it further away, but not by much. He wasn't in a stable mindset right now, and he was getting mentally tired. He would only be able to do this for so long before one of these things bit them….

"Look out!"

Dean wasn't sure who spoke, but he didn't care. He instinctively dropped to the ground and moved Sam into his arms, hovering over his little brother in a protective stance.

He wasn't aware what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't the car blowing up.

Dean felt the heat but was luckily far enough away from the flames that they didn't scorch him or Sam. He stood up, placing Sam over his good shoulder once more and was relieved to see that the majority of the Croats were distracted by the fire, running up to it, some of them even jumping into the flames.

A few were still heading his way, but the fire was just the distraction he needed to get away. Dean ducked away from a few Croats' grabby hands and ran as fast as he could toward the sound of the voice he heard. That person had saved them….and was their best chance at continuing to stay alive.

A young man, probably in his early twenties, was waving a gun in the air, signaling for Dean and standing out among all the Croat-infested bodies wandering about. He made a beeline for the man, who pointed toward a farmhouse behind him.

"Dean, get in the house. I'll try and delay them as long as possible."

He paused for a moment, confused by the fact that this man knew his name. Dean didn't recognize him. What if this guy was working for Eve? But why would he have even bothered saving them in the first place?

Deciding to take the risk and figure out who the guy was later, Dean turned and ran toward the house, gripping tightly to his brother's limp body.

When he felt he was a safe distance from the house, Dean concentrated as much as he could and teleported...

Opening his eyes, he found himself safely inside the living room of the farm house. He breathed a deep sigh of relief, not realizing how much he had been panicking until now.

They had almost got bitten. It had been  _that_  close. They really did need to play it super safe from now on.

Dean looked around the room, finding that it had been lived in for quite some time. Weapons and food lay around, the windows were bordered up and there wasn't as much dust as there would have been if the house had been unoccupied.

Not wanting to waste any more time looking around, Dean eyed the couch and gently placed his little brother down on it. He checked Sam's head and saw that while there was a gash on the top right corner of his hairline, it wasn't deep and the bleeding had nearly stopped. It must have been the trauma to his head that knocked him out.

"Earth to Sammy…" Dean snapped his fingers in front of his brother's face and when that didn't work, he smacked Sam on the cheeks as softly as he could. "Come on little brother, I could use that freaky big head of yours right about now."

Unsurprisingly, Sam didn't move and Dean decided to try and find something to clean the cut on his forehead. As soon as he stood up, the door flew open and the man that had saved them rushed inside. He immediately secured several latches that kept the door shut and then turned around.

"I think I distracted enough of them that they aren't headed this way. But there's still some that saw me run toward the house and I'm sure they're prowling around."

Dean didn't answer. Instead, held out his hand and sent the man sliding into the wall.

"What...what are you doing?" the man stuttered. "I saved you Dean! Let me go!"

Yeah...he wasn't about to do that. Not when he had no idea who this guy was and why he saved them. What if he did want to hurt them? Not that he would stand a chance, but still…

"Let you go so you could kill Sam? I don't think so." Dean walked closer, keeping his good hand extended and leaving the man unable to move. "You want to start by telling me who the hell you are and how you know my name?"

The man shook his head, seeming confused. "You don't remember me? Well...it's not like we saw each other all that much. It's Vince...I was Freddie's brother."

"Freddie...the guy that shot me with the intent to kill and started our home on fire?  _That_ Freddie?" Dean seethed, unintentionally clenching his fist and causing Vince to gasp as his air supply was cut off.

Dean released his grip when he watched Vince shake his head desperately.

"Yes! I didn't do that though! I had no part of it! He pushed me around and basically abused me!"

"Still, he's your brother. People that are treated that way sometimes get messed up in the head, you could be loyal to him."

"I didn't even see the guy for years before the Croats attacked! Trust me, I may have turned into a wimp around him but he didn't manipulate me to be crazy like him. I killed my own brother because I knew it was right! I knew he was an evil screwed up bastard!"

Dean dropped his hand, allowing Vince to move his arms but not yet walk away. "And why did you save us now?"

"You and your brother are good people who are trying to do the right thing. And I'm trying to do the right thing too in saving you, like I did last time."

Dean kept his eyes narrowed but released his powers completely, giving Vince full control over his body.

"Thank you," Vince said, and although Dean was looking for any sign that he was being insincere, he didn't notice any.

"Don't thank me. One wrong move and your intestines will be on the floor."

The man let out a slightly-frightened sounding laugh. "That's...disturbing."

"I may not be a psycho evil bastard but I'm still a demon. I will end you if I even think you're a threat to my brother."

Vince held his hands up. "Why would I even attempt that when I know you'd kill me in two seconds flat?"

Dean narrowed his eyes. "Answer me this. Why the hell are you still around here?"

"After the fire…I...I found this place to stay in while I decided my next move. While I was doing that, I saw you guys go into the hotel. I stayed around here because...well.. I was hoping I'd be allowed back with your group after some time," Vince stuttered. "I was waiting for the right time to approach you guys. Please don't hurt me, I just didn't want to be alone!"

Dean ignored his pleas. "Did you have anything to do with these Croats?"

"What? No! I don't...I've noticed they can't be killed like they used to and there's been more around. Then tonight I saw this...swarm of them like I've never seen before and noticed they were headed straight for the hotel. I stayed alert to see if I could help anyone and that's when..."

"You saw us crash," Dean finished.

"Yes...yes...please...I don't want to cause you any harm. I'm not a threat."

Dean wanted to be more skeptical but there was no way this man was lying. He was really just scared shitless. Dean let his powers drop completely. "Whatever." He pointed over toward Sam. "Help my brother."

"What's wrong with him?" Vince asked, looking relieved as he walked shakily over to Sam and kneeling down next to him.

Dean stood behind Vince like a hawk, wanting to make sure the man didn't hurt Sam in any way. He didn't like leaving Sam's safety in the hands of anyone but himself. But Dean didn't have anything to clean Sam's wound, and maybe Vince had stashed some medical supplies somewhere.

"He's got a concussion. His forehead is bleeding." Dean gritted his teeth and clenched his fists when Vince moved Sam's hair to look at the wound. It took a lot of power to restrain himself from pushing Vince away from Sam. He didn't like people he didn't know touching his little brother, especially when he was knocked out cold.

"The wound started by his hairline, here." Vince pointed to the location. "It doesn't look too deep, so it should stop bleeding soon and heal up."

"You got anything to clean it with or bandage it up?" Dean asked gruffly.

"I did gather up some basic medical stuff...ointments, bandages, peroxide..."

"Okay, then go get them. Hurry up."

Vince stood up and skittishly hurried out of the room and into one of the bedrooms. He came out a minute later with a bag full of supplies.

"Okay," the man started. He knelt down next to Sam. "I can..."

Dean reached out with his powers and sent the man sliding five feet back. Vince yelped and looked up at Dean in shock.

"Uh-uh." Dean glared down at him. "I told you to get the supplies, not fix him up. Only I do that. Get back."

"Okay...okay..." Vince got to his feet shakily and took another few footsteps away from Dean. It was nice to have someone afraid of him again. Dean forgot how much fun it was.

But he couldn't focus on that now. He had to take care of his brother. He knelt down and got to work in cleaning the blood away from the wound and getting any dirt out of it. He grabbed one of the bigger adhesive bandages and placed in over the cut. The white material starkly stuck out from Sam's tanned forehead and Dean made a mental note to tease his brother about it when he was feeling better.

Dean shook Sam once more and wasn't surprised when he didn't get any reaction.

"You've gotta find a way to get him awake," Vince said quietly from the other side of the room.

"You think I don't know that, asshole?" Dean spat back, feeling gleeful when panic crossed over the man's features.

"I wasn't...I wasn't saying it like that. Just...have you tried everything?"

It took all of Dean's willpower not to say something sarcastic back. "Every damn thing I can think of."

Sam was out completely. And what if the longer he was knocked out, the harder it was to get him awake? Dean had to figure something out...and fast.

He had the ability to talk to Sam with the telepathy, but since Sam wasn't conscious, it wouldn't work.

But...maybe he could still jump into Sam's dream? And if Sam wasn't dreaming, maybe Dean could still enter his mind and create one so they could talk?

He needed to fall asleep. But he was too worked up right now to be able to.

"Vince." Dean stared at the anxious young man. "I need you to knock me out."

"Wh...what?" Vince shook his head. "I don't...can you even get knocked out?"

"Of course." He tried not to roll his eyes. "It just takes a lot more. But I'll let down my defenses so that will help. Just...I would say shoot me in the head but the sound would attract those things. You got a shovel or something somewhere?"

Vince's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head. Why did he look so scared? The guy probably killed Croats on a daily basis, what was the big deal in hitting a demon in the head?

"Why the hell do you want me to knock you out!?" the man spluttered. "And why do you seem so happy about it?"

Dean sighed. He hated explaining this. Time for the cliffnotes version. "My demon powers allow me to talk to Sam. I can't 'cause he's knocked out. If I'm knocked out too then I can visit him in his dream. Now come on, hurry. Hit me!"

Vince still seemed completely bewildered but he did walk into another room and came out with a hammer. He glanced down at it and then at Dean and suddenly looked like he was going to be sick. "Uh...is this okay?"

"Yeah, yeah good. Just make sure to hit me hard enough. And in the temple." Dean lay down on the floor and titled his head to the side. "Come on! No! Don't close your eyes! Focus and swing down..."

Feeling a sudden sharp pain, Dean let darkness take him. He was going to bring his brother back.

* * *

Dean awoke with his head spinning and tried to orient himself. He normally didn't get dizzy, that was a human thing and he was much too strong to suffer from something so minuscule. So why...

He remembered now. He had gone into Sam's dream. Trying to get into his brother's mind while he was knocked out must have taken more out of him than the dream sharing normally did.

The experience had been odd. Especially when he had seen what Sam's dream consisted of….he had been dreaming of Dean as a human. It wouldn't have bothered him so much…it wasn't like he never expected Sam to have dreams of the old him…if it weren't how happy Sam had seemed.

His little brother's mind had taken him to a time when he was relaxed and at ease in order to protect himself from the chaos and pain he had experienced. Sam felt safer and more content with him as a human.

Not that Dean could blame him….but still, it stung.

Deciding not to waste any more time dwelling on those facts, Dean stood up, his dizziness already dissipated and his head injury long ago healed. He hurried to the couch, ignoring Vince and smiled when he saw Sam scrunching up his face in pain.

He was awake. Everything would be okay.

"Hey, freak, open your eyes." Dean jostled Sam as much as he dared to and was pleased to see Sam squint at him.

"Dean…what…" He reached over and rubbed at the side of his head.

He was talking. Good he was more alert than someone normally would be after a concussion like that. It was probably from the demon blood that strengthened him…

Demon blood. He needed to give Sam some of his blood now. It was a bit early for his daily dose, but it would help him heal even quicker.

"I have to tell Sam something," Dean told Vince and pointed down toward the hallway. "Get out of the room."

Vince didn't need to be told twice. He went into one of the bedrooms and closed the door.

"Who…" Sam attempted to sit up and Dean helped him, placing one of the old pillows behind his back for support. "Who was that?"

"That asshole Freddie's brother," Dean said, digging through their remaining bags for the blood water bottles.

They weren't there. The bag that Dean had placed them in was the one that got ripped away from him in the Croat scuffle.

Great.

"Sammy, don't kill me for this."

"Huh?" Sam squinted at Dean and then rubbed at his eyes, wincing.

"Our food and water backpack was ripped off of me by a Croat."

"Oh…" Sam sounded sluggish but at least he was following the conversation. "That…that's really bad."

"Yeah, and you know what's worse? The blood kool-aid was in there and you need to take your daily dose now to help heal you up."

Sam seemed to become a little more aware. "What are we going to do?"

"Gotta drink it straight up." Dean grabbed his knife and cut his hand that was resting outside of the sling. He put the knife away and moved that hand under the other one, cupping the blood. Once he was pleased with the amount he had, he placed his palm in front of Sam's face.

As expected, Sam made a face. "Gross."

"I know, but it's the same amount you usually have, just not mixed in water. It will taste stronger but it won't be disgusting to you. Just try and ignore the fact that it's straight-up blood."

Sam was still making that dorky face but didn't complain as he sipped at the blood in Dean's hand. It's not like he had anything to be embarrassed about, it was only the two of them that were in the room.

When Sam was done he pushed Dean's hand away and wiped at his mouth clumsily.

Dean sighed at the red still smeared on Sam's face and grabbed a nearby blanket to wipe it off. Sam shoved at him, and Dean was pleased to know that there was some strength behind it.

"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Sam just pouted.

"Gonna have to get used to it if we can't find any more water bottles. Feeling better?"

Sam stretched and blinked a few times, his face becoming more alert with each passing moment. "Yeah...actually, I feel a lot better."

"Good." Dean sat down on the couch next to Sam's feet, feeling lost for words. Sam's dream still nagged at him, and while he had promised his brother that he would let him know when something was bothering him...Dean just couldn't do it. How ridiculous would he sound if he berated Sam for dreaming about him as a human?

Maybe it didn't mean what he thought it did...maybe the dream meant nothing at all...

He kinda missed how he was when he first came back from Hell. Less stupid emotions, no dwelling on things. Everything had been so simple back then. He had been able to handle months where Sam didn't believe he was his brother and now, one little thing that Sam did turned him into the most emo demon ever to exist.

"Dean," Sam spoke, startling the older Winchester. "Thank you."

Dean raised one eyebrow. "Thanks for what?"

"For not giving up on me, for trying everything and going into my mind to wake me up. Thank you."

Sam's puppy dog eyes were so sincere that it was impossible for Dean to deny that Sam was being genuine. "Yeah, whatever. Had to wake you up to tell you all the wonderful news. Like getting separated from the rest of our group. And losing our food. Don't forget that we are probably surrounded by a horde of Croats and locked up with Freddie's brother without a vehicle to drive away in."

Sam sighed, looking completely crestfallen. "So basically, we're screwed."

Dean listened to the moaning Croats and considered the possibility that Bobby and the others may not have made it much further than them...

"We're more than screwed Sammy. We're fucked."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so much for the support on the first chapter! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
> 
> A very important note that I accidentally forgot to add to the first chapter: I want to give big thanks to my beta and great friend Gabi (gabi2305) for betaing this story for me and for helping me out with ideas and encouraging me along! :)

"No." Sam shook his head at Dean's depressing comment. "We'll be okay. We'll find a way out."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "What got into you? You were always so 'doom and gloom' and now you think we can just prance on out of here fine?"

"Well, if you'd like to prance, go on ahead but I was thinking more like run for our lives." Sam smirked. "But yeah, we can make it. I know we can. We made it this far didn't we?"

"What about our lack of food and water?"

"We can find water easily. There's rivers and streams all around here. We can find pans and boil it using your demony-fire hand thing. And I'm sure we'll find animals to hunt and be able to find plants we can eat. It shouldn't be a problem."

"And us being separated from everyone else?" Dean questioned.

"We had a meeting spot. We'll get there."

"With no car?"

Sam sighed. "Dean…we'll figure it out. We'll walk. They'll wait for us. Since when are you so negative?"

Dean wouldn't look at him. "I'm just sick and tired of us not catching a damn break. I knew that the hotel wasn't safe enough but I let myself think we'd be fine and dandy, at least for a bit longer."

Sam glanced down at his lap. "I thought that too. None of us could have predicted this." He brought his gaze back on his brother. "But we'll find some place better. We'll find somewhere in the mountains that's good and hidden. No demons or monsters or Croats will be able to find us. We can build a life there."

Dean shrugged his good shoulder. "If we're that lucky," he mumbled.

Sam paused at what he was going to say and studied Dean's attitude and posture. He was slouched over and scowling, avoiding Sam's gaze. He was clenching his fists in what Sam knew was frustration. When Dean reached up and began clutching his amulet with a look of distress on his face, Sam knew that whatever was wrong…it had to do with their relationship.

His mind was still a little foggy and he struggled to remember what had happened in the dream that may have made Dean feel agitated. He had a memory of Dean appearing and telling him what was going on…maybe he had to just think back a little further…

As soon as Sam remembered the other Dean in his dream, it became crystal clear on what was bothering his brother.

"Dean…you're in this mood because of my dream, right?" Sam figured he should just put it all on the table.

"What?" Dean spluttered, putting on his 'angry demon' face that would fail to hide his true emotions from Sam. "What the hell? No! A guy can't be pissed because everything is going wrong?"

"It's not this stuff that is bothering you. Sure, it doesn't make you happy that we're separated and without food, but that would never cause you to sit and mope. You promised me you would be truthful with me Dean…"

"Sam I…"

"Don't go back on that promise Dean. Don't you do that to me."

Dean gritted his teeth, glaring at Sam. He punched the couch once before looking away. "You're an ass, you know that?"

Sam smiled with that statement; he knew Dean had given in. Now, he just had to fix it. "Yeah but I'm  _your_ ass."

Dean made a face. "Dude, that did  _not_  sound right."

Although Dean was agreeing to talk to Sam, he was still finding ways to deflect and delay the conversation. Sam couldn't let him get away with that.

"Dean...is it bothering you that I dreamt about you as a human?" Sam asked gently but firmly.

Dean tensed, of course, but he didn't get angry. "It wasn't that. I don't care that you dream about human me. You knew me longer that way so it would be weird if you didn't."

"Then what's the problem?"

Dean clenched his teeth but once he opened his mouth, everything began flowing out quickly. Sam had to struggle to keep up with what he was saying. "It's like I told you in the dream...that you were taken to a safe place and that safe place was with the human version of me."

"Dean I...you honestly think I felt safer with that version of you, seriously?" So this is what Dean was thinking? Sam couldn't believe it. When he didn't get any response, he continued. "I...I didn't even remember you turned into a demon in my dream. I had short term memory loss and thought I was years back in time."

"You remembered Aiden," Dean pointed out, referring to the kid with the football that had been in his dream.

"No, not really. I didn't even remember who he was. He appeared as just some kid..."

"But he was still there. Demon me could have still been there even if you couldn't really remember."

"Yes, you could have," Sam agreed. "But I was taken to a safe memory of something that I could remember at the time. Don't you remember that lake? I mean, it didn't happen exactly like that, but we went fishing, we relaxed. We had fun."

Dean finally looked over at him. "Yeah, I remember. It was before Azazel killed you and I made the deal..."

"Exactly," Sam interrupted. "It was simpler times. I was taken to a time where we didn't have much to worry about. I mean...not that it's either of our faults, but when have we had an extended time to relax and feel completely safe after you came back as a demon?" Sam winced after he spoke, hoping Dean wouldn't take it the wrong way.

For once, he was lucky. Dean smirked a bit. "Yeah, having to worry about Lilith and Alastair...then the Croats...then Alastair again...and now this..."

"Me dreaming about that has nothing to do with me not feeling safe with you now. It doesn't matter which version of you I've got...I've always felt safest with you. Hell, I feel better being with you now than I ever have before."

Dean cocked an eyebrow. "Because of my amazing demon powers that can protect you from everything?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "No, asshole. Because of  _us_. How we are now. We're closer than we've ever been. We understand each other more. I'm just...I'm happy with you Dean, okay?"

Dean looked away, nodded and then glanced back at his younger brother. "Okay. I get ya' Sammy."

"Really?" This was a pleasant surprise and Sam didn't want to get his hopes up.

"Yes, really. What, do you want me to complain some more?"

"No, I'm just..."

"I trust you Sammy. I mean, even your amnesia-ridden self didn't run away from the disgusting disfigured demon in your dream, so that's gotta mean something."

"That's right." Sam lifted up his leg and kicked Dean in the side. "And you're not disgusting, you're just a little hard on the eyes..."

Sam laughed when his brother punched him in return, happy to see Dean grinning and taking the joke for what it was.

"Thanks bitch."

"You're welcome, jerk."

Now that things were good between them, Sam felt himself relaxing and concentrating on their situation.

"Do you think the Croats will leave the area?" he asked his brother, refraining himself from asking about the slinged arm that Dean was rubbing.

"I think they'll end up scattering after a while, hopefully. I guess we'll just have to make a run for it when it starts getting clear. We need to get food and water as soon as possible."

"Okay, But what about..." Sam paused to look around the dark room. It was empty of anyone but he and Dean. "You said Freddie's brother was here...he saved us?"

"Oh yeah, I told him to scram when..." Dean's mouth suddenly stopped moving, but his voice continued, at least in Sam's head.  _When I had to give you the blood and shit. Should probably tell him to come out now before he gets too suspicious._

 _Can we trust him?_ Sam asked in response. He was glad for their telepathy and needed to remember to use it more in situations where he wanted a conversation with Dean to be heard by just them alone.

_I don't know yet. I have my suspicions. Like why the hell he just hung around here for so long. I'll watch him closely once he's interacting with us and decide._

Sam didn't want Dean jumping to conclusions about people and assuming everyone was out to get them. But his brother was hardly ever wrong. He was right about feeling something was wrong with Hayley from the moment they met her. And he had trusted Sadie was a good person and leader even though she had annoyed him at first.

 _Okay,_ he told his brother _. Tell him to come out._

"Vince, get your ass out here!" Dean bellowed.

Sam heard the man stumble over something and possibly fall. "Oh geeze, have you been scaring that poor guy?"

" _Poor guy_? His brother is the one that shot me! Or did you forget how pissed you were after that happened?"

"Of course I was but this isn't Freddie. Vince didn't hurt you." Sam quickly shut up and changed the subject once he saw Vince walk into the room. "Hey, Vince. How are you?"

Vince appeared to relax once he heard Sam speak. As much as their group accepted Dean, it was obvious that other people wouldn't be comfortable around him. That thought twisted something inside Sam's gut, but he pushed it away. They would find Bobby, Sadie, Carl and the others. They would continue building the life that they had started.

They just had to get past this….very large obstacle.

"Sam." Vince smiled a little. "I'm glad you're awake, how are you feeling?"

Sam noticed Dean roll his eyes at the simple talk going on. He couldn't blame his brother, it was really awkward. What were you supposed to say to a guy whose sibling tried to kill them all?

"I'm feeling a lot better," Sam decided to say. "Thank you for rescuing us."

Vince looked nervously toward Dean before nodding at Sam. "Yeah, of course."

The trepidation Vince obviously felt toward Dean began to bother Sam. He forgot how much he hated people looking at his brother this way.

"Dean isn't going to hurt you Vince," Sam told the man, hoping that his words would have Vince relaxing some.

"Not unless you give me a reason to." Dean continued to narrow his eyes at the man.

"I won't! I swear!" Vince held his hands up in defense.

"We'll be out of your way as soon as it's clear enough. But thank you for letting us stay here for the night." Sam felt bad for the man, but he couldn't allow him to join them. Dean would never allow for it, and Sam also felt weary about letting someone new travel along with them after what happened with Hayley. They couldn't take the risk in case Vince betrayed them. And they certainly couldn't lead him to their group if he was dangerous.

They just didn't know. They couldn't trust him.

From the dejected look on Vince's face, Sam knew that the man had expected to join them on the way to meet their friends. Before Sam could try and apologize, Vince nodded. "Yeah, of course. Leave whenever you want. No rush."

With that, Vince turned around and went back into the bedroom.

 _The hell was that about?_ Dean's voice filtered through Sam's thoughts.

_He's upset Dean. He's probably been lonely. It's understandable, but we can't risk bringing him along._

_Damn right we can't._ Dean sounded stubborn.  _We leave as soon as we can Sammy, something smells off to me and I don't like it._

Sam couldn't help but agree. He had expected Vince to maybe argue with them or plead his point in order to try and travel with them. It was odd that he hadn't.

Or maybe he was just being paranoid.

Nevertheless, it wasn't like Vince could hurt them. Dean was practically invincible and Vince would know if he even tried to touch Sam, the demon would kill him.

"Get some sleep, we're gonna need it tomorrow," Dean told him, grabbing some blankets and a pillow and lying on the floor next to his brother. Sam didn't fail to notice the knife Dean slipped under his pillow.

Sam settled down on the couch, closing his eyes. They had a long journey ahead of them and it was only beginning.

* * *

Dean was usually a deep sleeper, but being a hunter he was always attuned to the slightest offsetting noise. Tonight, he had slept with one eye open, dancing on the edge of consciousness, so it wasn't shocking that about an hour later, a very muffled shuffling caused his eyes to snap open.

It was extremely quiet, so soft that Dean may have not heard it normally. He focused in, hand ready on his knife and prepared to use his powers. If this man chose to lay even a single finger on his Sammy...

Dean reached over stealthily and firmly tugged on his brother's hand that was hanging off the edge of the couch.

Two seconds later, he saw Sam's eyes open and noticed his body tense.

Thank goodness Sam had been able to distinguish that Dean's tugging had meant something was wrong and became aware quickly. Maybe Sam had been sleeping lightly as well.

 _Dean?_ Sam's voice entered Dean's thoughts, sounding worried but alert.

_Shh. Listen. I think it's Vince._

Dean saw Sam quickly reach for his own knife and both brothers were completely silent as they listened intently.

If Vince came any closer to them, Dean would jump up and have a knife to his throat in seconds.

But Vince didn't get any closer. Dean heard something that sounded like an object being picked up off the ground. There was some shifting and a nearly muffled grunt. Then the footsteps…started getting quieter.

He wasn't walking toward them. He was walking away. And it seemed like the direction he was heading in was…

_Is he going to the door?_

Sam's thoughts matched Dean's and he knew he couldn't waste any time.

He sprang up, Sam doing the same. Vince had his back turned and didn't hear them. In the dim moonlight that shone through the dirty windows, Dean could see that the man's hand was reaching for the doorknob, and on his shoulders, were two backpacks and one duffle.

Those didn't belong to Vince.

Dean teleported the ten feet so he was directly behind Vince and grabbed onto his shoulder with his good hand, forcefully spinning the man around and slamming him into the wall.

Vince yelped, obviously startled and his eyes grew wide in fear as he looked between Dean and Sam, who had moved to stand next to his brother, knife in hand and aimed at Vince's throat.

"I was…I was just going to go out there and take some of the Croats out so it would be easier for you guys in the morning! I swear!"

"Oh, and you were just going to borrow all three of our bags while you were out there, yeah? Because it's so much easier to kill some Croats with three bags thrown over your shoulders." Dean kept his voice dark, but low, almost a growl. He pressed his arm against Vince's windpipe with a sneer.

Vince gasped and startled struggling desperately, his eyes wild with fear. Huh. Dean had assumed that Vince had been acting this entire time, pretending to be scared of him so he wouldn't be expected to steal from them. But the young man obviously was extremely afraid of Dean, and yet…he had still tried to take all of their stuff.

"Why did you do it Vince? Why pretend like you wanted to save us only to steal from us?" Sam asked, his voice no longer holding the friendly tone it had earlier. "You knew that you wouldn't stand a chance getting away from us."

"I didn't…I didn't pretend to save you! I did want you to live!" The man was just able to gasp the words out through Dean's chokehold.

"Yeah, because taking all our supplies will really ensure that we live."

"I was hoping you would let me come with you!" Vince coughed. "But when I realized you guys had no intention of doing that…I knew I was screwed. I'm out of supplies, I have no more food. If you guys left me alone, I'd die. So I figured the only chance I had was to take your stuff and run."

"And then condemn us to death?" Sam asked, bringing the knife closer.

"No! Not…I wasn't thinking like that. I figured I needed the supplies more than you. You guys stood a better chance without them than me."

Dean laughed, loud and short. "Sorry to break it to you buddy, but all you'd have would be our clothes and weapons that you probably don't know how to use. Our food and water bag got snatched away by a Croat."

Vince's face fell, understanding that he was doomed no matter what. "I'm sorry, I…"

Dean didn't let him finish. He brought his hand up, making a fist, and punched Vince in the side of the head.

If a human had done it, it probably would have only left a bruise and some dizziness. But with Dean's demonic strength, Vince was knocked unconscious immediately.

Dean raised his foot, aiming for Vince's neck to get rid of the stupid asshole when Sam grabbed his arm.

"Dean, don't."

"What do you mean don't? He stole from us! If he got away we'd be screwed."

"But it wasn't like he tried to hurt or kill us. Tell me, does he deserve to die?"

"Hell yes he does!"

Sam crossed his arms as he looked down at Dean.

"What! Don't give me that look. It's not like I'm saying some innocent person deserves it. Bobby doesn't. Sadie doesn't. None of our people do. But him..." Dean kicked Vince in the side. "He betrayed us. Anyone that hurts you..."

"He didn't hurt me," Sam pointed out.

"But you would have gotten hurt if he took the stuff. Without our supplies, you know how screwed we'd be? And he knew it..." Dean lifted his foot again.

"Let's just let him stay here and take his chances. He probably won't make it and will turn into a Croat."

"And that's better? Letting another Croat roam around? I can't take the chance of him coming after us Sammy. I can't. I need to protect you."

Sam sighed. "I get your point Dean, I do. But do you really think he'd be able to catch up to us and hurt us? You saw how scared he was of you. He was desperate to join a group and we turned him down. So he decided to take what he could and flee."

Dean pointed a finger at Sam "You're defending him?"

"Of course not!" Sam seemed offended. "I knew we couldn't take him along. It would be too big of a risk. But I can see why he stole from us. He felt abandoned after he did end up saving us twice, from his own brother and from the Croats. We can at least repay him by not killing him."

Dean placed his foot back down on the floor. "You're willing to take that risk?"

"He won't come after us. Not after how we threatened him and knocked him out. He's too afraid. And maybe...I think even if he was braver, he would still respect us for not killing him and leave us alone."

Dean folded his good arm over his slinged one. He couldn't deny that Sam had a point, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"Trust me on this Dean, please. Like I trusted you when you said something might be up with him."

"Fine," Dean hissed. He kicked Vince's head once more, looking up at his brother when Sam complained. "For extra precaution." He smirked.

Dean caught Sam rolling his eyes, but he didn't scold him any further.

"Now," Dean grinned, feeling giddy. "Let's go through  _his_  stuff and see if there's anything useful."

* * *

Sam made sure, as much as he could anyway, that Dean didn't take anything that they didn't absolutely need. Even though he was pissed at Vince, he still felt bad for the man and didn't want to leave him with absolutely nothing when he was already struggling.

Luckily, Vince had been telling the truth and didn't have much with him at all, except for some medical supplies, which Dean took most of. He was pretty sure the only other thing Dean took was a sword, but his brother's theft skills were so stealthy, Sam couldn't be sure.

"We leave in the morning if it's clear?" Sam asked.

Dean peered out the back window, which faced the north, the direction they had to go. "I say we leave right now. It looks pretty clear."

"But it's so dark, shouldn't we..."

"It's dark for the Croats too. They might have good smell and hearing but it seems they still rely on their sight a lot. We just gotta keep quiet. We'll stand a better chance of not being spotted when one of their senses is dulled." Dean glanced down at his watch. "We only have an hour and a half until sunrise. We should be able to make it somewhere safe by then and we can rest up."

They got their three remaining bags ready, with Dean putting on the backpack and slinging a duffle over his shoulder, despite only having one working arm. Sam wanted to complain, but he knew Dean could handle it. Dean with one arm could carry two bags easier than Sam at full strength. He wouldn't get weighed down or exhausted.

They both pulled out their machetes, knowing that it was their only defense against the Croats. They still kept guns tucked into their jeans in case they ran into anything else. Sam felt like it was too soon to be moving, but he knew they had to. He just wasn't used to being on the run, which was funny, because before the virus, all they had done was travel on the road.

It was funny how content he had gotten with staying in one place. And not just him, but Dean as well.

Hopefully, they'd be able to find a secure home base soon.

"Alright, ready?" Dean turned to face Sam, his hand on the doorknob.

"Yeah." Sam shifted the duffle on his shoulder. "Let's go."

"Okay, and stick close to me. I don't need you wandering off to save someone or something and getting eaten."

"Same to you," Sam shot back.

Dean rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything else as he opened the door.

They took off into the night, running as quickly but stealthily as they could. Sam could see Croats all around them, but in the distance. They slowly sauntered about, searching for something to attack.

Croats were weird; they weren't typical zombie-like creatures. Sure, they would bite at someone and start eating at them, but as soon as their victim was dead, or managed to get away, they would immediately go to attack another. They didn't stay and eat all the flesh off of the corpses, which made them even more dangerous. It wasn't hunger that drove them, but some kind of demonic rage, mixed with whatever the demons had cooked up to create the virus. The bodies didn't rot either, since there was a dormant soul trapped inside, which caused the Croats have full human strength.

Sam looked away from the Croats to the east that he had been staring at and focused back in front of him, making sure to keep pace with Dean and stay at his brother's side. He knew Dean could run faster, but Sam, while stronger on the demon blood, was still human. He would get tired if he tried to run at Dean's speed for long. So it was Dean who had to match Sam's stride. Hopefully it would be quick enough for them to avoid being spotted, but at least Dean could teleport them short distances if they were in immediate danger.

After a half hour, trees started appearing and began to get denser, leading Sam to figure out they would be entering a large forest soon. This was exactly where he hoped they would end up. Being in a heavily wooded area would offer them more protection with all the tress. But it also meant that more Croats could be lurking about, hidden. It would also be harder to find shelter now that they were running away from the farmhouses and towns. Sam glanced at his brother, hoping to get his attention.

 _Let's keep going through here,_ Dean said _. I think less of them hang out in forests since there's only really animals in these areas. They don't care to kill animals, only people._

Sam relaxed upon hearing Dean's voice. The telepathy was still such a new concept to him, and he had forgotten about it yet again. This would come in very useful while they needed to be quiet while on the run.

Luckily, Sam remembered just in time. He saw something dark out of the corner of his eye and he raised his machete.

_Dean! To your right!_

Dean stopped, spun around, and sent his machete sliding down, slicing right through a Croat's neck in one slick motion. It was almost graceful, and all done with one working arm.

Dean didn't pause after he killed the monster. He grabbed onto Sam's sleeve and kept running.

 _I thought you said they didn't come into the forests!_ Sam scolded his brother through their telepathy as they continued to run.

_We're just on the edge of it. There's a bunch of farms to our right and maybe a small town, they're lurking around the area. Once we go further in, we shouldn't see any. Let's switch it up a little, start going north-west slightly._

Sam followed his brother's lead and soon, they had to start dodging trees and running through thick bushes. He figured they were lucky that they changed from their pajamas into jeans before they left. Their legs would have gotten torn up by branches if they had the thin material on...or at least Sam's would have.

They kept at it until they spotted a deer to their left. The creature quickly sprinted away once it noticed them, but it didn't matter.

The deer was important because it meant they were deep into the forest. The brothers had learned this important information from some of the survivors they rescued back at Bobby's. Deer and other skittish animals didn't tend to wander out of the forests and woods like they used to before the Croats. Even though Croats didn't go after the animals, most were terrified of the monsters. Whether it was because they could smell the demonic virus or because of the erratic and threatening nature of the Croats, Sam couldn't be sure.

Or maybe it wasn't completely because of the Croats. Maybe it was because of the demons as well and because of all of the violence going on. The terror and panic that took control of the world probably frightened the animals and caused them to hide away in a place they knew was safe. They probably wouldn't venture out of the protection of the forests for quite some time.

Dean stopped running and Sam slowed to a stop next to him. The older brother held out a hand, signaling for Sam to stay quiet and listen.

They stood there for a few minutes, looking all around them and intently listening for anything out of the ordinary.

The only sounds they heard were that of nature.

"Good," Dean spoke, still keeping his voice quiet. "We can slow down. Let's continue to hike and try to find some water. You have any idea where we might be, geek boy?"

Sam dug in his back pocket where he had crammed his maps. He knelt down and spread them out over the ground, pulling out his flashlight and turning it on.

He studied the map for a few minutes while Dean kept watch. It was tough trying to guess how far they had been able to drive before the crash, and where exactly they ended up at the farmhouse.

"I know we're in Minnesota. We have to be if we were heading north. The hotel was just on the border of Iowa. There's not too many forests out here unless you go way further north, so we have to be...somewhere along the Minnesota River."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I don't see any river," Dean grumbled.

"It's here, the forest runs along it." Sam folded up the maps and placed them back inside his pockets. "We just have to listen and keep going further north. If we do, there's no way we can miss it."

"Alright then, I'll take your word for it." Dean looked down at his watch. It had a built-in compass and didn't even need batteries, being charged by natural and artificial light. They both had one and Sam had been proud and impressed by his brother for thinking of the idea.

"Gonna need to find things that don't run on batteries. They'll run out sooner or later _,_ " Dean had told him when the world began to fall apart. He'd stolen these from a fancy watch shop just before things had gotten really bad.

"This way." Dean pointed in the direction that must be north.

They continued on, the world growing brighter as dawn approached. They made their way through some clearings, but there were no Croats to be found. Sam felt himself relaxing but didn't bring his guard down. He had to stay aware. In this world, the most unthinkable circumstances could happen at any time.

"Look." Dean nudged Sam's shoulder and he followed his brother's line of vision. In the distance was a dirt road that was heading north-east.

"Think it's safe to travel on?" he asked.

Dean nodded. "It doesn't look like it was probably used much back when the world was fully populated. Look at the grass growing on it, no car has been down here in months."

"That doesn't mean people couldn't be walking it," Sam reminded him.

"True, but I doubt many people would walk this way knowing that it leads to a river they have to cross. They'd find some main road with a bridge to cross it."

"Alright, let's go."

They followed the dirt road for ten minutes before they spotted a cabin off to the right; it was built right next to a man-made pond.

"Should we check it out?" Sam asked.

Dean shook his head. "Not yet. First let's see how far the river is from here and then we can shack up in the cabin if it's safe. We'd get better water from the river than from the stagnant water in the pond."

The brothers stealthily walked past the cabin, looking for any signs of life nearby.

There were none. Two minutes later, the dirt road ended...right at the river.

"Yahtzee!" Dean cheered. "We've got water  _and_  shelter." He raised his hand to give his little brother a high-five."

Sam rolled his eyes but ended up returning the gesture. It did feel nice to finally have some good news. At least they wouldn't be going around thirsty and could catch some sleep.

They walked down to the wide river, Sam thinking about how lucky they had been in the past to have the water tank at Bobby's and the one at the hotel as well. With Ruby's witchcraft, it had been charmed to never run out of fresh water and now...

Now the water wasn't fresh. They were out in the wild with water that could carry multiple different kinds of bacteria and diseases. Including...

"Dean stop!" Sam reached out and smacked his brother's hands, which had been cupped with water, ready to take a drink.

"What the hell Sam? I think there's way more than enough for the both of us."

"Stop joking around. This water...Dean, remember what I said back at the farmhouse? It may be fresher than the pond water but it still needs to be purified."

Dean paused. "Oh. Yeah. I'll purify some for you. But I'll be fine."

"No!" Sam hissed. "Are you forgetting the disease that inflicted the whole world? The one that you're not immune to anymore? What if there's Croat blood or something in this river that infected all the water?"

Dean seemed thoughtful, considering Sam's words. "I don't know. This is running water Sammy. It's not like the disease would still be floating in it like it would in a pond with nowhere to go."

"But what if there was a Croat that had just been killed further up the water?" Sam pointed to the east, where the water was flowing from. "We could get unlucky and drink from it just as the disease is travelling through it."

Dean sighed. "Fine, fine. But it's not like it's the outbreak of the disease and there's a bunch of Croats being killed and dumped into rivers or shit."

"It never hurts being safe."

Dean didn't argue with that.

* * *

Purifying the water was going to be easy as hell. Dean didn't exactly share his brother's worries about the disease being carried in the river, but it wasn't like they would have to waste any resources by purifying it.

He scooped up a bunch of water using some pots he stole from Vince's hideout. Sam didn't even scold him for it and actually looked impressed that Dean had thought to grab them. The older brother had figured that they would need something to collect water in and had taken them along with a few mugs and tumblers he saw lying around.

Carrying the water back, Dean used his powers to float several pots through the air in order to save multiple trips back to the lake. On Sam's request, they hid behind some tress to stalk out the cabin in case it was inhabited. Dean could only take so long of that crap before got impatient and teleported himself inside.

The house was clear of any inhabitants, just as he had thought.

With that, they brought the water in and Dean went to work. The two-story cabin wasn't anything special but seemed cozy and had been kept up nicely. Dean didn't waste much time looking around after he found what he needed. There was a fireplace in the living room with piles of wood stored next to it. He threw some logs down and floated one of the pots over it.

Sam walked over and raised an eyebrow. "Dean...what..."

Dean focused on the logs and set them on fire, then looked up at his brother with a grin.

By the surprised look on Sam's face, he had clearly forgotten his earlier suggestion about Dean purifying the water with his demon powers. "Well...I guess that will work." He shrugged, trying to down play how cool he thought it was.

"Don't try and act like you're not amazed at how awesome I am little brother." Dean laughed when Sam huffed. "Now bring over those other pots. I gotta stay over here and concentrate on keeping them floating."

It didn't take too long to get the pots boiling and Dean had them bubble over the fire for five minutes each before deciding that the water was probably clean. Sam went through the shelves, finding that there was a decent amount of packaged food.

Dean set the pots down to cool and made the fire extinguish. He walked over to the table where Sam had sorted out the food. "Whattaya got?"

"Well, there wasn't much in the fridge beside some warm beer that we can take along. The cupboards weren't filled either but the good news is that the cans of soup are good and we can still eat the stale cereal and crackers."

"Sounds like this was just someone's vacation home that they didn't really keep stocked," Dean pondered.

"Yeah, and they either didn't think to stay here when things got bad or they didn't make it."

"My vote's on that they ended up a Croat's chew toy." Dean grinned.

"How optimistic. What a nice visual." Sam rolled his eyes and then got serious. "At least they left  _some_  food here. It should last us a week if we ration..."

"Uh, uh." Dean shook his head. "No rationing. Or at least not for you. I can function pretty damn well with less food, but you...you need to keep up your strength. We gotta stay alert out there and you can't be passing out from not eating enough."

Sam folded his arms. "Okay, so let's say we go with your idea. We  _both_  eat a healthy amount. Then we run out of food in a few days. What if we don't find another place that has nonperishable food before then?"

Dean sat down on the couch in front of the fireplace. "We hunt, duh."

Sam sighed and Dean understood. He knew Sam would be uncomfortable with killing animals. They never had to hunt before this. They had stored enough food before the virus got bad and then collected a good amount after. At the hotel, Sadie had the cows and chickens that would provide milk and eggs and also her own stash of food. He was sure someone hunted occasionally for them, but the brothers never had.

"Don't give me that look." Dean folded his good arm against his slinged one. "We're  _hunters_. We hunted down monsters on a daily basis and now we hunt down Croats. I think we can handle some animals. Hell, back at Vince's base you even brought up that we would have to hunt animals!"

"I know. It's just that I hoped we could find food before resorted to that. We always hunted  _monsters_. Not innocent animals."

"It's the circle of life Sammy."

"I know, I know. We need to do it to survive." Sam sighed. "It's just hard for me."

"The animals kill each other for survival, now we're just doing the same thing. Hey..." Dean walked over to Sam and punched his shoulder. "You know how easy this will be with my powers? I can make it real quick for them too. Just snap their necks..." He motioned his hand out to demonstrate how he could perform the action using his mind.

Sam looked a little uncomfortable but nodded. "Okay, yeah. We should find some animals before we leave."

"I'm thinking we stay here for today, rest up. In the evening we can go out and hunt. Shouldn't be too hard to find some with the deer I saw on the way here. Then we stay here most of the day tomorrow and do the same. If we found enough grub, then we can store it and leave by nightfall."

Sam considered this for a moment and then nodded. "Alright, sounds good. Hey, we can fish too and you can use your powers to get them easily."

"Good idea. There you go Samantha." Dean hit his brother over the head. "Now how about we get this placed sealed up? I'm sure they have some rocksalt around here somewhere..."

* * *

There was rocksalt. It made sense being that they were in Minnesota where the snow was heavy and frequent in the winter. Putting salt lines at the bottom of windows and doors was always a simple task they had completed. But in a two story cabin with windows galore, it was a lot more time consuming.

They couldn't just pour the salt directly, since it was a very large bag and too much salt would end up spilling out at one time and get wasted. They had to grab the salt and spread it out instead.

Dean had tried to help, grabbing handfuls of rocksalt and ignoring the burning pain in his palms. Sam hated it of course, but Dean assured him a little stinging wouldn't bother him.

He got through five windows before the salt he placed down was more red than white. Sam had forced him to stop after that, and Dean wasn't going to complain. It felt like someone stabbed his hands with a hundred tiny knives.

Sam finished the job on his own a half hour later and they finally dragged their bodies up the stairs to the biggest bedroom. After nearly 8 hours of being in constant fear of danger, Dean finally allowed himself to relax. They were in a forest away from any Croats. They had water and would get food. They had shelter and were protected from rouge demons and any angry spirits because of their salt lines.

This was a positive and hopefully would help recharge them enough to set out soon and try to find their group...or what was left of it...if they were lucky...

Dean brushed those thoughts off. No use in thinking of that right now.

Sam collapsed on the bed first, plopping down on his stomach and ignoring the dust that floated up from the mattress.

His little brother had handled the crappy situation they were in better than Dean expected. He had even been more positive than Dean. Sam really was adjusting to the new world just like he had adjusted to Dean becoming a demon those years ago.

His brother was really fucking awesome. Dean wished he could tell him that, but of course he would never be able to. It was too cheesy and his big brother and demon pride would stop him no matter what.

But Sam had been trying so hard and doing so well, Dean should be able to do something for him. He noticed that in Sam's dream, he seemed to crave the touch and affection that human Dean had showed him. The older brother believed Sam when he said he felt comfortable and safe with any version of Dean, but obviously, some part of Sam longed for aspects of his human self.

Sam craved physical touch, just little things; Dean figured it made him feel wanted. As awkward as Dean would feel doing stuff like that, he could do it for Sam. He was already trying by punching Sam on the shoulder or whacking him on the head earlier. Dean hadn't missed the small smile that creeped onto his brother's face afterward.

Dean could try and adjust to showing Sam he cared in that way. Even though it was unnatural to him, it shouldn't be too hard. His brother deserved it.

So before Sam fell asleep, Dean reached over and ruffled his hair.

"Get some sleep sasquatch, we have another fun filled apocalypse day tomorrow that we have to survive."

He laughed when Sam flipped him the finger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! On Sunday I will be going to SPN Toronto Con, so this chapter was a little shorter than usual because I wanted to get it out before then. I hope everyone enjoys the episode tonight! And if you are interested feel free to follow me on my tumblr - hugitoutwinchesters. If you have the time, I'd love to know what you thought of the chapter in a review :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the delay. I have been in and out of doctor's appointments and had a bad breakup. But the good news is that I know everything is okay now!
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter. I also have over 3k finished for the next chapter so it won't be as long of a wait!

_To your left, Dean._

The older brother turned around and ducked in the bushes, keeping an eye on the deer in the distance.

Sam was crouched behind a tree, scouting for any animals and alerting Dean. He didn't want to use his gun to kill them unless it was necessary. Not only would Dean's powers cause a more painless and quick death, but that form of death was effectively silent. If they shot a gun, any Croats that may be nearby would hear, and so would people.

_It's too far away, my powers won't extend that far. Gotta teleport closer but still keep it in sight._

Sam glanced around.  _Try hiding behind that tree with the broken low branch. You should be close enough over there._

Dean gave Sam a thumbs-up and then vanished from site, only to reappear behind the tree a moment later. He peered around the other side and went to take a step closer to the deer.

His foot must have stepped right on a twig as Sam heard a snapping noise. The deer heard it as well, spinning its head around to stare right at Dean. It turned but before it could dart away, Dean held up his hand and quickly snapped the creature's neck.

"Got it!" Dean called out, like Sam couldn't see what had happened thirty feet in front of him.

"I can see that." Sam stepped out from behind the bushes and grimaced as he saw the poor animal. Dean lifted it up with his powers and placed it over his good shoulder casually like it was just a sack of potatoes.

And maybe to Dean it was. Food was food to him. Didn't matter if they had to kill it themselves or pull it out of a can. Sam was glad he had his brother who would gladly cook the animal. He didn't think he would be able to do it himself.

"I'll dump this inside and then try and grab some fish. You want to tally up all the remaining supplies we've got and check out the cabin for anything else?" Dean asked when they got back to the cabin.

"Sure, just cook that outside on the bonfire. I don't want to see you ripping that deer apart. But don't make a lot of smoke, if it goes too high it would give away our location."

Dean just grinned smugly and shook the dead deer's head at him. Sam flipped him off before going back inside the cabin.

He got together their three remaining bags and decided that they could use a few more pairs of jeans and possibly some sweaters. Who knew if they would find the group before fall set in? Sure, they still had two months until they had to worry about that, but the group could be anywhere. And what if everyone else had gotten split up? What if they had….

Sam shook his head and tried to force himself to think positive. There have been four or five people in each car. They would be safe in numbers. Hopefully people had made it to their meeting spot and were just waiting for the brothers to arrive.

He spent a good hour digging through the meager supplies of the cabin. Sam didn't feel bad anymore about taking stuff that had once belonged to others. Chances were that these people were long dead…or turned…and would have wanted to pass their supplies down to other people that had a chance to survive.

After finding a large duffle, Sam packed it with the supplies he found: matches, clothes, jackets, extra shoes and the boxes and cans of food he found earlier. He had one room left to check, the door had a nail hammered into it with a sign hanging that read "Dad's Office". Sam wasn't expecting to find anything useful and as the door was locked, he considered not even bothering until curiosity got the best of him. He grabbed a paperclip that they always kept in their duffels and began picking the lock.

Swinging the door open, at first Sam was unimpressed, seeing nothing but a computer desk and some bookshelves. He sighed and went over to the books, thinking he could grab something to read when they finally found a safe place to settle….

The books weren't fiction books. They were a...collection of various things in nature. Different animals, land formations, plants...not to mention a book on every state in America and even...wilderness survival guides.

Sam didn't hesitate as he turned around and rushed down the front of the house. He didn't even mind when he saw his brother chopping up the poor deer and the dead fish lined up on the lawn.

"Dean!" Sam called out, waving his arms excitedly.

Dean spun around, on alert but his face relaxed when he saw Sam's happy expression and realized there was no danger. He then put on his typical irritated scowl.

"What? Can't you see I'm busy? I thought you didn't want to see this shit anyway." Dean gestured over to the dead animals.

"You gotta take a look at what I found, come on!"

Dean sighed and mumbled something that was probably an insult to Sam, but he put down his machete and rinsed off his bloody hand in the pond before following his brother.

"Why didn't you just mind-talk and tell me to meet you in the room?" he asked.

Sam hadn't even thought of that. "Oh, I forgot."

"You gotta remember it Sammy, it can come in handy in important situations."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Okay,  _mom_."

Dean gave Sam a serious look. "I'm not kidding. I don't want you getting hurt because you forget we have this connection."

Seeing the sincere look on Dean's face was what made Sam decide he shouldn't give his brother a hard time. He did have a point. "Okay, I'll work on remembering. But this wasn't a dire situation or anything. Shockingly, I prefer to talk to your ugly face."

"Look who's talking." Dean reached over and messed up Sam's hair.

They reached the room and Sam was saved from Dean teasing him about his hair any longer.

"Here it is. Prepare to be amazed." Sam stepped into the room.

Dean followed him in and looked around, one eyebrow cocking in confusion.

"Okay, so this is what you dragged me in here for? Some books? I know you're a nerd Sammy, but come on. We're not lugging that shit with us."

"It's not shit Dean! Take a look at the titles!"

Dean grumbled but trudged forward. As he read, his slouched posture became more alert and when he turned to face Sam, he was grinning under his black eyes.

"Sammy, you just found the damn jackpot my brother!" Dean clamped Sam on the shoulder, a little too rough, but Sam didn't dare complain.

"See, I can just be as useful as you. You're making the food, I'm finding out how we can survive."

"Hmm...I'll give you that one." Dean shoved Sam a little and then turned back to the books. "Okay, so there's shit on plants. We'll know what ones are poison and keep you away from those. That's good."

"This father must have been a real nature lover. There's a few survival guides in there too!" Sam grabbed one of the books and flipped through the pages eagerly. "We can probably find everything we need to know in here."

"He's got all the states," Dean mentioned, pointing over to the alphabetically sorted row of the American states. "We can take some with us of the states nearby. Gotta make sure and grab Colorado if that's the place we're gonna plan to make our new home base in."

"I just..." Sam ran his fingers over the dusty books. "I wish I could take them all."

Dean chuckled. "Slow down geekboy. We take only what we need. Don't need the duffle ripping from a bunch of two-ton books."

Sam rolled his eyes at Dean's exaggeration but still couldn't stop smiling. "Okay, okay. I'll get to work picking out what we need to take with us. You go back and finish making dinner."

"Suddenly eager for me to finish cutting up your poor little animals?" Dean raised an eyebrow.

"No...shut up. I'm just... _starving_ okay?" Sam reached out with his powers and shoved Dean through the doorway when his brother laughed at him. "And make sure you change your bloody clothes when you're done, you jerk!"

* * *

"Dean this…this is actually really damn good." Sam smiled, taking another bite of his cooked deer meat.

Dean wasn't sure exactly what he had done. Had he made deer-steak? He had tried to remember what John had taught him and cooked every part of the deer that he thought was edible, but he wasn't sure what part they were eating right now. Oh well, all that mattered was that it was cooked all the way through. Hunting and getting meat would be easier than he thought…as long as they could find the animals.

But he wouldn't tell Sam any of that. Nope, he'd act like he knew exactly what he was doing.

"I told you. Now are you going to stop crying about killing the animals?"

"I guess so. As long as you don't go around killing some dogs and cats for food."

Dean scrunched his face up in disgust. "Sick. Who would want to eat something that had been someone's pets? But I'm telling you, if some of those things are feral now, and try and attack you, I'm not gonna stop in snapping it's neck."

"Even if they did go feral that quickly, I doubt they'd try and go after a human for food."

"Yeah, yeah…" Dean waved his food-dirtied hand in the air. "I know you and your love for the furry freaks so I'll restrain myself from killing them."

"Thanks Dean," Sam said sarcastically, but he couldn't hide the gratitude on his face.

Dean picked up a piece of food and flicked it at his brother's face. "I'm gonna make you a proper blood drink and then go take a bath in the stream before it gets dark."

"Dean wait...the water...remember what I said about the infection possibly being in it? It could get in your eyes or mouth..."

"Relax bitch. It's not like I'm going to dunk myself in it. I'll grab a washcloth and some soap and just wash off. I'll even use our purified water to wash my face and hair. I'm not wasting all our water on bathing."

Sam sighed. "Fine. But if either of us have any opened wounds...not like you would with how you heal...but if we do...we need to make sure we don't use any potentially contaminated water. We have to be careful now Dean."

Yeah, he knew Sam was right. But he wasn't going to give him that satisfaction. "Nerd," Dean grumbled, quickly filling up a mug with some purified water and dripping some of his blood into it. "How about you fill up anything we have that has a lid with the purified water while I'm out there?"

"Alright." Sam was sipping at his blood-drink like it was coffee. Dean had to hold back a laugh at how crazy their situation was, yet how normally they were handling it all. Hell, they had just sat down at a dinner table to eat parts of a deer that Dean had killed and cooked and now he had to bathe in a river.

This was their life from now on...although it would most likely get easier once they found their group. But hey, Dean didn't mind. He was a master at adjusting. This new life kept him busy and he and Sam were on great terms.

If only there weren't Croats running around along with rabid monsters and their leader who was capable of things Dean couldn't begin to imagine.

But hey, they'd deal.

"Just be careful out there Dean, okay?" Sam asked, looking up from one of the survival guides they'd be taking with them. "If anything bad happens you know, just…" Sam tapped his head.

"Yeah, yeah mind talk. Now you don't have to worry so much anymore. I'll be fine Sammy." He grabbed his trusty machete and grinned before stepping outside.

* * *

Dean was just finishing up his bath when he heard it. The rumble of thunder in the distance. He sighed, remembering the mess the last storm had caused. At least it was happening while they had a shelter.

He threw on his change of clothes and was contemplating whether or not he would be able to wash his dirty ones in the river before the storm hit when he heard his brother.

"Dean!" Sam jogged over to him. "I didn't even realize it was about to storm. It looks like it will be a bad one."

"You're lucky I was dressed before you came running out here," Dean grumbled. "It's just a storm, not a big deal."

"I'd just feel safer if we got inside. The sky looks kind of green back there, doesn't it? It's possible there could be some tornados."

"It's..." Dean looked at his watch. "Eight o' clock Sam. Don't tornados always happen during the day?"

"Most happen in the afternoon, yes. But they can happen at anytime."

Dean cocked his head at his brother. "How do you know all this random shit?"

Sam shrugged. "It's not that random. And I've just always been curious about...everything really. You know that. I'd look stuff up online all the time." He frowned suddenly, looking sad. "I miss the internet."

Dean patted Sam on the shoulder, wearing a slick smirk. "So do I Sammy, so do I."

"Of course. How could I forget your love of porn? No more 'Busty Asian Beauties' for you."

Another clap of thunder exploded through the sky and the wind began to pick up along with it. Dean groaned.

"Alright, help me gather up all this stuff and bring it inside."

A few hours later, Dean had to admit that his brother's worry had been warranted. The wind was so strong that he swore the house was shaking and the rain had turned into hail.

"I can't fucking sleep," Dean complained, stuffing a pillow over his head to try to block out the noise.

Sam laughed tiredly at his actions. "What are you, five? Just try and tune it out. Relax and all the sounds will just merge together."

Dean lifted up the pillow and tried to glare at his brother, not that it had much effect. Even though Sam was on the other side of the bed, it was completely dark in the room. Without the moonlight to send light through the windows, the only time Dean could see much of anything was when a flash of lightening cut through the sky.

He could concentrate and light up the room of course. He could get electricity going through a room he was in for a while. But he and Sam decided quickly that it wouldn't be a good idea. If anyone...or anything was around, even having the lights on in one room would give away their location.

"Shouldn't we be downstairs?" Dean asked. "I know there's no basement but when there's a tornado..."

"It's not a tornado. I was wrong. One time when you and dad went on a hunt and I stayed at Bobby's when I was younger, one touched down not far away. It was completely different. This is just a bad storm. I'm sure there is probably a few funnels that hit ground, but not really close to us."

Dean shook his head in the darkness. "I've said this before, but you really  _are_  a walking encyclopedia of weird."

He heard Sam huff and then there was another burst of thunder, louder than any of the ones before. Dean groaned and stood up. There was no use trying to go to sleep now. He stumbled over to the window, which he could just barely make out in the lightening that followed.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked. Dean could hear him begin to get out of bed as well.

"Nothing. Just waiting for another lightening flash so I can get a glimpse of how bad it is out there. See if you're right."

They stood there for a moment before a flash of lightening gave them a glimpse of the forest below.

Trees blowing wildly, the pond rippling...another burst of light gave Dean another glance...

"What the fuck is that?!"

"What?" Sam asked, startled by both Dean's words and the loud clap of thunder.

Dean instantly grabbed Sam by the shoulders and shoved him close by. "Look. Once it flashes again...look by the edge of the forest. Do you see someone?"

Both brothers were on edge as they waited. After what felt like hours but was only thirty agonizing seconds, a lightening bolt gave them a quick view.

A view of someone...or something...walking around right where the forest began to clear.

"What the hell Dean!" Sam whispered in fear. Dean, who never let go of Sam's shoulders, pushed him down so they were both crouching beneath the window ledge.

"We couldn't have been followed!" Dean seethed quietly. "I would have heard it!"

"Maybe it's someone searching for shelter from the storm?" Sam questioned.

"Hell no. Did you see their posture? It looked like they were...hunting for something. And they didn't have any visible weapons on them!"

Sam was quiet for a moment. "Do you think it was a Croat?"

"No, seemed way too alert from what I could tell. And Croats usually travel in packs. It wouldn't be this deep into the forest."

"Then...if it doesn't have a weapon...it may not be human. A demon..."

"We would both be able to sense it if it was," Dean reminded him.

"Right. So then...do you think it's one of..."

"Eve's monsters?" Dean finished for him. "It's possible. But what's it doing out here?"

"I don't know," Sam said quietly. "I mean, Eve obviously made the army of Croats break into the hotel so she could kill us. She sees us as a threat. Maybe she realizes...or just thinks we could have gotten away. And she's sending out her minions to look for us?"

Dean nodded, and then remembered Sam probably couldn't see it. "That seems like the best damn possibility right now."

"You brought everything in right?" Sam tugged on Dean's arm and they started slowly backing away from the window and stood up when they were positive they weren't in view.

"Yeah, made sure of it."

Sam kept a hand on Dean's arm, possibly to calm himself or maybe just to be certain of where his brother was. "Okay, that's good. The thing has no reason to assume we're here then. And if it does get in, we can easily take it down."

"But what if it's just trying to scout our location and give it back to Eve?" Dean questioned.

"That's why we keep moving. Let's forget hunting tomorrow and just go as soon as we can."

Dean walked back to the bed, keeping a hold on Sam's arm to make sure his brother was near. "Okay yeah. That thing is out there, and could break in, but we need our sleep. We gotta take turns. I'll be the first lookout, you get your beauty sleep."

"But Dean..."

"Shut up. I'm the big brother, I go first. Don't worry, if that thing comes in, I'll kill it before it even has a chance to attack."

"Fine," Sam sighed. "This is going to be a fun night."

* * *

In Sam's mind, the night didn't go too badly, all things considered. Dean had woken him up at around 5 in the morning so he could take the last shift.

"I saw it go back into the forest," Dean had told him. "It hasn't come out since, or not that I've seen anyway. As soon as it's light or it stops raining…whichever comes first…you let me know and we're booking it out of here."

That left Sam where he was now. At seven in the morning, he was debating if he should wake up Dean or not. The rain had died down a bit but was still at a steady pour. And although it was technically morning, Sam wouldn't have been able to tell if he didn't have a watch. The clouds were dark and thick, letting little daylight break through.

The creature or person didn't come out of the forest, but that didn't mean anything. It could have moved on and traveled elsewhere or it could be sitting in the shadows…waiting for them to leave the safety of their cabin.

If it was a scout…what if it kept following them along and they didn't realize? They couldn't risk meeting up with the group with a potential minion of Eve's following them that could report their location back to her.

Hopefully they'd be able to focus in and determine if they were being followed or not. Would leaving in the rain make it easier or harder? The sound of the rain falling would block out other noises, but it would also create footprints in the mud.

Best to wake up Dean and ask him.

Sam shook Dean's good shoulder firmly. "Dean, hey."

The older brother shot up in bed, knife in his hand and at Sam's throat.

Sam didn't flinch. The reaction was common and something they both did since they were young. "I need to ask you something."

Dean put the knife down at his side but glanced around the room, on edge. "Are we safe?"

"Yeah, the thing never came out of the forest. But I need you to help decide if we should leave now while it's raining or wait it out."

Dean stood up and peered out the window as much as he dared. "Looks shitty out there. Maybe whatever is stalking the area will be miserable and not as alert because of the weather."

The older brother did have a point. "Okay, so we leave now?"

Dean nodded. "Let's get our shit packed up and get the hell out of here."

They packed up as quickly as they could, being careful to remember everything they needed.

"They have rain parkas here," Sam pointed out as Dean finished packing his bag. "Should we grab them?"

Dean shook his head. "The colors are too bright. We'd be spotted easily. We're just gonna have to get all dirty and wet…I just took a damn bath too," he grumbled.

Sam chuckled. "You'll have to do without some of your great personal hygiene while we're out here. Don't worry, as soon as it stops raining I'm sure you'll be running to the nearest pond or lake."

"Can't wait till we find some place to stay so I can take a real shower…" Dean continued to mutter. "Damn, I miss that jaccuzzi."

Sam rolled his eyes. "You know what I don't miss? Being attacked by Croats. The hotel wasn't safe. Come on, let's go. The sooner we get out of here the better."

They left the cabin and entered the steady rain. Dean instantly stopped being sulky and became on alert, scanning the area back and forth. Sam did the same; they needed to keep a lookout for whatever was hiding in the trees.

Sam glanced at the compass on his watch. "Okay, we need to continue north, so we'd either have to swim across the river, or continue along the edge until we find a bridge."

"We can't swim, the river's probably going too fast today with the storm and we'd get all our shit wet. So we have to go to the bridge, but I don't like that idea because we'd be out in the open," Dean growled.

"I doubt that we'd run across someone else crossing the bridge at the same time as us though. We'll be fine." Sam started walking toward the river and Dean caught up and took his place to walk in front of Sam. Of course.

"Left or right?" Dean asked once they reached the raging river. "I have no damn idea."

Sam thought back to the maps he had been studying the night before. "Right. There's a creek, Fort Ridgely Creek, that is surrounded by trees on either side. It's a thinner forest than what we're in now, but I think keeping along the creek would offer us more protection." Sam paused for a moment, realizing something. "Unless…Dean." He grabbed his brother's shoulder. "Can you teleport across the river?"

Dean glanced over at the river. He seemed to be calculating it and then scowled. "I don't know. It looks pretty wide. It's probably just on the border of the distance I can teleport. I can't risk you drowning because of me." He kicked the nearest tree in frustration. "I need to start fucking practicing more…"

"Hey…" Sam shook the shoulder he held. "Shut up. It's not your fault. We'll be fine. The river might thin out at some place too. Don't worry about it. Let's just try and find a bridge closer to the creek and keep an eye out for whatever is following us."

They continued along the edge of the river. Any snap of a twig or rustle of the bushed had them both on edge, pulling out their weapons and aiming toward the source of the noise. More often than not, it was an animal and the rest of the time it was caused by the wind.

They were both tired and soaked. It was a good thing it was summer and the rain wasn't cold. But it was actually humid outside, making it difficult…at least for Sam…to keep up a fast pace. He managed though and realized it could be a lot worse.

An hour and a half into their trek, the rain started to slow, causing Dean to mutter "hallelujah" under his breath. Now, they just had to hope that the sun wouldn't come out and blast them with scorching summer heat.

A rustling noise caused them both to stop. With the rain now just a light mist, so many more sounds were coming through the forest.

 _You think it's just some animal?_ Dean asked. Sam was glad he was using the telepathy to stay as quiet as possible.

The rustling started again, and then quickly stopped.

_It's possible. It sounds louder but that could be from the lack of rain. Do you see anything?_

There was a pause as Dean took a moment to look around.  _No. Let's keep going._ _Keep your eyes peeled._

They didn't make it far before they heard another odd noise, this time coming from the trees.

Sam had just looked up when something large came flying at him from above. He let out a quick yell before the force of the thing caused him to hit the ground, hard.

"SAM!"

As soon as his brother yelled, whatever was on top of Sam had been flung off of him by Dean's powers. Sam sat up to see a woman pinned to a tree. She snarled and suddenly broke free of Dean's confines. Yeah, she was definitely some sort of creature. Dean could use his powers on monsters, but they weren't as effective as they were on humans, especially if the creature in question was older and more powerful.

Instead of going for Sam, she lunged at Dean, obviously finding him more of a threat. The two supernatural beings tussled on the forest floor while Sam pulled out his machete, not even knowing if it would do any harm. What was this thing? Should he risk swinging to chop of her head with the possibility of hurting Dean? Sure, Dean would heal, but not if Sam hit him in his bad arm.

Speaking of Dean's bad arm, the woman now had her hand wrapped around Dean's bicep and was squeezing. Dean let out a feral yell of pain and Sam couldn't take it any longer. Now was the perfect chance.

He ran over, swinging his machete as he did so. Right as he went to strike, the woman spun around and grabbed the weapon, flinging it away. She pushed Sam down with inhuman force and then turned toward Dean, shoving him into the base of a tree. The monster reached into a holster and pulled out a long blade. In one swift motion, she sent it through Dean's stomach, pinning him to the tree behind him.

"NO!" Sam screamed uselessly. From the look of pure pain and shock on Dean's face, Sam knew the blade had been made of iron. He pulled out his gun full of silver bullets and shot several times, hitting the woman in the stomach and then forehead as she slowly stalked toward him. She hardly even flinched, smirking the entire time.

"Was just going to keep watching you and report that you were still alive. But the opportunity was too good...I couldn't resist. " The woman smiled. No sharp teeth, so not a vampire. "I may not be able to take the demon down, but because I killed you…I will be rewarded so much!"

Sam had to think fast. He had no idea what this thing was and how to kill it. Dean was stuck to the tree, poisoned, and there was no way he could help delay the monster's attack...

Unless...Dean's  _body_  was poisoned...but not his  _soul_.

Sam continued to back up from the approaching monster and concentrated, not even needing to hold his hand out. He just stared at his brother and focused on making his smoke soul leave his body.

Hopefully, it would serve as enough of a distraction to the monster and the brothers could figure out what this thing was.

The woman stopped a few feet in front of Sam, but he wouldn't find out just which way she was going to kill him as at that moment, Dean's soul whipped right through her.

She jumped and turned around, letting out a scream that wasn't just one of fright, but of pain as well. Apparently Dean was zapping her with much more force than he did when he messed around with Sam.

She growled, her eyes changing slightly but too quickly for Sam to notice since she kept spinning around, batting at Dean's soul.

"What the hell is this? Get off of me!" She screamed and Sam couldn't help but laugh. This monster had just acted all high and mighty minutes ago and now was crying for Dean to stop.

Then, she seemed to get extremely frustrated. She bared her teeth and her hands...her fingers grew long claws. Sam could see her eyes clearly now...her pupils were diamond shaped.

"A kitsune!" Sam called out, just as Dean's voice sent the same message through their telepathy. He remembered back when he was a teenager...he had made friends with a girl his age who ended up actually being a kitsune. But she had been good, even helping Sam by killing her own evil mother, stabbing her in the heart.

Sam went to pull out his machete only to find it gone. Right, the kitsune had grabbed it from him and tossed it somewhere. But where...he looked around frantically, not seeing the weapon.

_To your right Sammy, by that small tree._

Sam listened to his brother's voice and followed his advice. There was the machete, lying about 200 feet away. He lunged forward, only to be grabbed from behind. The kitsune had her claws in his hair and Sam knew it was only a matter of time before she used one to slice his throat.

Suddenly, she let go, screaming. Sam glanced behind him to see that Dean was kind of hovering...inside her...sending out angry bolts of electricity.

Sam sprung into action. He ran the remaining distance and grabbed the machete. Walking toward where the kitsune and Dean were fighting, he walked through Dean's smoke cloud, not even feeling one ounce of pain, and sent the blade through her heart.

She let out a dying yell and then collapsed onto the wet ground. Dean immediately left her body and hovered in front of Sam, near his face.

"I'm okay, I'm fine," Sam reassured him, putting his weapon back in the holster.

Dean didn't move, his soul sparked worriedly. Sam glanced at him, confused.

 _Your face,_ Dean said.

Sam reached up and felt around. After he brought his hand up to his left cheek, it came away with blood. The kitsune must have scratched his face when she grabbed his hair.

"Just a scratch Dean. Relax. I'm more concerned about you." He walked over to his brother's body and with some effort, finally freed the iron blade from his stomach.

 _Just a scratch Sammy,_ Dean's voice said mockingly.  _That blade is a lot smaller than the iron pipe that Alastair embedded into me, and my body was only getting poisoned for a few minutes this time. It will hurt for a half hour or so, that's it._

Watching Dean swirl around through the air, Sam realized his brother might enjoy a little bit of time free from his body. It must feel nice, in a way, to just be able to float around freely and not worry about the pain his body would be in.

"I'm gonna at least patch up your body," Sam told him. "Wrap up the wound. So just...don't get into any trouble."

Dean drifted over Sam's head and gently zapped him.

Sam rolled his eyes but didn't complain. If anything, he was happy that Dean seemed to be showing him more affection lately. He really thought that Dean had lost the ability to show casual signs of physical affection. He did still seem a bit lost when he put a hand on Sam's shoulder or clapped him on the back, but he was trying, and Sam hoped Dean realized how happy that made him.

He let himself patch up Dean slowly so his brother would get about ten minutes free of his body. When Dean seemed to be having too much fun scaring the birds out of the trees, Sam called out to him.

"Alright jerk, time to get a move on. Come on."

Dean reluctantly stopped chasing a squirrel and let Sam put his soul back in his body. He grimaced in pain as soon as he was back, but quickly brushed it off, looking at Sam who had knelt down beside him.

"Nice quick thinking you had back there, college boy." Dean patted Sam on the shoulder with his good hand.

The compliment meant a lot to Sam, but being a little brother, he couldn't let Dean know that. "I couldn't have done it without you." He focused his gaze on Dean's bad arm. "She grabbed your arm pretty roughly, how does it feel?"

"Sharp fresh pain, but it should die down in a few days. I don't think she tacked on any additional healing time." Dean took his hand off Sam's shoulder and held it in front of his brother. "Help me up."

Of course Dean wasn't going to take a breather after what happened to him. Even though Sam thought Dean should have some rest, doing so right now was a bad idea until they determined they were safe and had shelter.

He helped his big brother to his feet and nearly collapsed when Dean almost fell on top of him.

"Dean! You can't even walk!"

"Yes I can! I just needed to gain my balance."

Sam sighed and leaned Dean against a tree while he went to retrieve their bags. "I'll carry two this time, okay?"

"Uh uh, give two to me." Sam began to complain but Dean continued. "You'll only be able to handle one 'cause I think you'll need to be helping my ass out a bit."

Dean was blushing, clearly uncomfortable with bringing up the fact that he needed to lean on Sam for support. But Sam saw this as an amazing sign. Dean was keeping true to his promise to Sam and being more open, he wasn't keeping things from him anymore.

For not the first time, Sam realized just how damn far Dean had come since he came back as a demon.

"Don't worry about it man," Sam decided to say, letting Dean know he didn't mind without getting cheesy about it. "Now, what do you think we should do with the body?"

"We can't leave it here in case Mama Eve or her minions come to check on her. Just..." Dean lifted his hand and the body got flung into the air and splashed into the river. The rapid waters quickly took the kitsune's body out of site. "There. Problem solved."

Sam found it hard not to smile at the careless and rough way Dean had thrown the body. "Alright, good. How's your stomach?" He approached his brother and helped him put the two bags on his shoulders. "This hurting your bad arm?"

"Nah, my shoulder's fine. And my stomach hurts but nothing that I can't handle." He lifted his good arm around Sam's shoulder and the younger brother put his hand around Dean's side to support him. "Alright human GPS, which way?"

* * *

After walking for around a half an hour, Dean pushed Sam away, stating that he was fine now and could walk without help.

He did seem better. He grimaced now and then but seemed to be walking fine. Now that Sam was confident Dean was back in the game and his head was clear, he decided to bring up what had happened.

"So, what do you think that was about?" he asked his brother. "Back there with the kitsune?"

"What do you mean, 'what was it about'? She was trying to kill us!"

Sam huffed. "I mean...she told me she was only meant to see if we survived or not and then report back. Yet, she decided to kill us, or at least me, to be rewarded by Eve."

"So she expected to kill you and...what? Did she not realize that I would have gone after her and killed her long before she could report to Eve?"

"I don't think she thought that far. She just got too eager and decided to jump in. But...the thing that confuses me is that...she had consciousness. The monsters usually seem to be under Eve's complete control. Like, they can only do as she says and lose any form of self-control."

Dean picked up a branch from the ground and started using it as a walking stick. Sam pressed his lips together. Dean had to still be in pain. They would need to stop soon.

"We saw another monster that wasn't under her control remember?" Dean asked. "Back at the library, the one that unleashed those Croats on us. He said he was willingly working for her. Maybe some prove their loyalty to her and she doesn't invade their minds."

"But what makes her decide on who she can trust to do so?" Sam ran a hand through his hair. "Obviously, the kitsune wasn't the smartest of the bunch. Shouldn't Eve had put her through more tests before giving her complete control and sending her out to do this mission?"

Dean shrugged. "You'd think so. I have no idea Sammy."

With a sigh, Sam thought back to Amy. She had been good. But now...now because of Eve, she was probably killing people and not in control of any of her actions.

"It just...it frustrates me," Sam spoke up, turning toward his brother. "There are creatures out there that are good, that don't kill people. And now they're forced to because of Eve."

Dean nodded. "I always figured there were actually more good monsters out there than bad. We just didn't hear about them because...well...they didn't do anything to  _make_  us hear about them."

"I had a friend once...when I was what...13 maybe? 14? Her name was Amy. It turned out, that she was actually a kitsune..."

Dean raised an eyebrow in his direction. "And you never told me?"

"I never told you because I forgot about her. And back then...I was afraid you would have killed her, dad especially."

"Well, yeah probably. This chick you had the hots for, she end up being good?"

"I didn't...Dean! She was my  _friend._ And yes. But her mother wasn't. She ended up actually killing her mother to save me. She didn't believe in her ways. I just...I think about Amy and what she stood for and now...what she's probably been forced to become."

There were good people out there; Sam couldn't think to call them monsters. People who fought against their instincts and didn't give in to what the lore told them they had to be. People like…people like Dean who defied the odds and were doing good instead of bad. But all their hard work was being swept away because of Eve.

"Maybe she didn't turn into a brainless minion. Who knows." Dean paused for a minute, as if thinking about something. "Maybe there's some monsters that are immune to her powers or can fight against it for longer than a few minutes? So she finds them and promises them a bunch of great shit to make sure they're on her side."

Sam considered that. It actually was a great theory. "Nice one. You might have something there Dean."

"See, you're not the only smart one."

Before Sam could retort back that he always knew his brother was insanely smart, Dean quickly continued.

"There could also be some monsters out there that are immune that she  _doesn't_  know about. There could be ones that want to rebel and are hiding out, staying low."

Sam understood that Dean was saying all this to make him feel better about Amy and all of the other innocent supernatural creatures that were being turned into killers and slaves. He appreciated it because Dean wasn't just making things up; it was something that could very much be plausible. But the thing was, even if Dean's theory were true, there might not be any way to find out. It would be near impossible for the brothers to find the creatures in hiding in order to gather more information.

Sam was brought out of his musings when he noticed something on the other side of the river. "Dean, look!"

"What?" Dean began to glance around wildly.

"Across the river...see over by the beach-area where all that sand built up? There's a stream! It's the one that we're looking for that heads north!"

Dean smiled. "Finally, some good news. And the river is narrower over here. I bet I can teleport you over without a problem."

Sam shook his head fondly. "We'll see about that."

* * *

Dean hadn't been able to teleport as greatly as he had thought. They landed about five feet from the shore, but the water had been so shallow it wasn't a problem. He blamed it on his injuries, which caused Sam to worry and demand that they rest in the nearest building they found.

It hadn't taken much longer to come across a farmhouse. Dean didn't like that it was so close to the intersection of the river and the stream, but they were both exhausted and he needed to heal.

The odds of someone coming across them were extremely low.

They spent the rest of the day there. The following day Dean caught and cooked some more fish for them. By the time they had food, bathed, and made more demon-blood kool aid water bottles, it was mid-afternoon. They both figured they'd spend another night before heading out the following morning.

Dean felt like they were getting into a pattern and it wasn't good. They were moving too slow, playing it just a bit too safe. By the worried look on Sam's face, his brother felt the same way.

Once the morning came, they headed out. If they didn't run into trouble and kept up a steady pace without stopping much during the day, they could get to the town they were meeting up at in two days, maybe a little less if they hurried.

But of course, luck wouldn't be on their side.

Ahead of them, Dean could hear rustling of bushes and the snapping of twigs. It was way too loud to be a small animal, and too consistent to be a deer.

Someone, or something, was walking toward them. By the sound of it, it was more than one.

Dean grabbed his brother's arm, who had just heard the sound himself, and dragged him over behind a large tree.

 _What do we do?_ Sam asked.  _There's a good chance they'll see us, this forest isn't as dense._

_If it looks like they will, we jump out, guns drawn, and maybe it will scare them off. If they make a move to shoot, I'm putting a bullet through their brain._

_Dean! You can't kill them!_

_If they're about to shoot us I have to!_

Sam's voice sounded sad.  _Dean. Please._

Inwardly sighing, Dean gave in.  _Fine. I'll shoot them in the leg. Happy?_

Sam didn't reply. Voices had joined in with the footsteps, quietly whispering to one another. It sounded like there were only two, a male and female.

Maybe they wouldn't even see…

Suddenly, a bird came swooping down at them, violently screeching. Dean looked up in panic, it was a blue jay, and above the brothers, in the tree, was its nest.

Dean clenched his fists, he would kill the bird, but there was no point. The people who had been walking had stopped and gone quiet. They were going to come over here and check on what had startled the animal.

 _We jump out on three, guns ready. I go in front._ Dean waited to make sure Sam had pulled out his gun before counting down.  _One…two…three!_

The brothers jumped out from behind the tree, startling the man and woman who were slow to raise their guns. Dean could have easily gotten the upper hand on them if it weren't for...

"Dean? Sam? Oh my god!" It was Heather, who dropped her gun and started running toward them, smile on her face. "Oh thank god thank god..."

She ran up to Dean first, which shocked him. Heather jumped up and wrapped her arms around him, holding on tight.

Dean held his good arm awkwardly to the side before reluctantly deciding to pat her on the back. Maybe that would get her to let go.

She didn't, so Dean figured he better speak up. "You really thanking God for finding me?"

Heather pulled back, looking confused, before she burst out laughing. "Oh, I get it...well who am I supposed to thank? Lucifer?"

"I guess you could, since he technically created demons, but thank Sam. If he wasn't a human GPS, we wouldn't have gotten here."

Heather moved away from Dean then to wrap Sam in a hug. The younger Winchester held onto her tightly, whispering something in her ear, probably something cheesy and reassuring.

It was then that Dean decided to focus on the man. It was Allen. Of course it was. Out of all people that they had to find alive, it had to be him. He was standing there with his arms crossed and his mouth in a thin line, but he had long ago put away his weapon.

"What happened?" Heather asked. "To you guys? Your car?"

"We were stuck in a horde of Croats," Dean answered, forcing his attention away from Allen, who had walked closer in order to hear what they were saying. "Ended up crashing the car. Got to safety. Remember Freddie's brother? He was alive, helped us, then tried to steal our stuff. We left him and journeyed the rest of the way on foot."

"What happened to  _your_ car? And weren't you with other people?" Sam asked.

Heather's good mood completely vanished in an instant. Great. "We tried to find a bridge. It was...a truck or something must have blown up on it long ago, because it was destroyed. We decided to travel the rest of the way on foot. Found some shallow water to cross and we were so close to the town and then..." she stopped, her voice hitching.

"And then what?" Sam's voice was calm but Dean knew his brother was anything but.

"The assholes came." Allen finally spoke up, his voice low. "They were dressed nice, had clean weapons and not a lot of supplies on them. We think they came from the town we were supposed to meet up at. They told us to join them and we refused."

"I had gone to get some water when it happened," Heather explained. "I stayed hidden because I could tell they seemed off and then..."

"They went after us. They shot Luke." Allen gritted his teeth. Dean tried to think of who Luke was and thought it was probably Allen's friend that he hung out with in the hotel bar, the one he was complaining about Dean with while he drank. "I heard them say men were expendable. We split up but..."

"But they got Sadie and Aiden!" Heather cried out, tears streaming down her face. "They were laughing while they dragged them away! We should have gone after them, but we would have been captured too and so we headed back, trying to find anyone else in our group to get help."

Dean shared a look with Sam. Whoever this was, if they lived at the town, they might have a whole community there. They wanted women and children.

This was bad. Really bad.

"We have to go get them." Allen pointed at Dean. "If you so much as say differently I'll..."

Dean grabbed Allen's hand, forcing it down with a snarl. He made sure to look him dead in the eyes.

"Oh don't worry asshole. We're going to save them, I'm gonna make sure of it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters are getting longer again! Hope everyone enjoyed and please take a minute or two to leave a review and let me know what you thought! Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Sam watched Dean and Allen stare each other down. Great, it looked like they'd butt heads even out here in the wild, where they would need to rely on each other to survive.

"Yeah?" Allen challenged Dean's statement that he would save their friends. "And how are you going to go about doing that? There's probably dozens of those people, probably more!"

"I'll go in that town and kill every last one of them if I have to. Not like they can do anything to me."

"Dean!" Sam walked over to him and put a calming hand on his shoulder. "We don't even know the situation yet. If we do find out they took Sadie and Aiden into a town, you can't just go killing everyone in there. There's bound to be innocents."

"Did you not hear what they said?" Dean gestured to Heather and Allen. "They said that they heard the kidnappers say men were expendable. They wanted women and children. They want to grow their community. And you know they're probably doing it by force!"

Sam understood what Dean was saying and it made his stomach sick. "Dean, I know. But we can't assume all of them are..."

"Rapists!" Dean finished saying what Sam couldn't, his voice dark, almost near a growl. "That's what Sadie is going back to. That's what they are going to teach Aiden how to be. I am not going to stand for that Sam."

"Woah, wait a minute." Allen chose that moment to speak up. He looked genuinely confused. "Why the hell would you be so upset learning that people might be getting raped?"

Dean spun around so fast that Sam almost missed it. "Doesn't it make  _you_ upset?"

"Of course it does! It's damn disgusting! But you're a demon! I haven't seen you care for one thing besides him!" He pointed toward Sam.

Once again, Allen's words got him pinned to the nearest tree by a snarling Dean. "You think I would like that? That it would be something I would allow to happen? That I would be okay if that happened to Sadie? Do you have any idea what happened in Hell? What I saw them doing and had to watch every damn day?"

"Don't act like you didn't join in!"

Heather gasped beside Sam, as if she couldn't believe what Allen just accused Dean of doing. It looked like she wanted to run to Dean's aid, but Sam held her back. He wanted nothing more than to defend his brother as well, but he knew this was something Dean had to handle on his own. The best chance at knocking some sense into Allen had to be the words that came from Dean's mouth alone.

Sam was getting ready to stop Dean from punching Allen, but what happened instead was something completely unexpected. Dean dropped his arm that had been pressing against the man's chest and just stared at him. He looked completely bewildered and...and hurt.

"You think that's what kind of person I am? I know you fucking hate me, but that's honestly how you see me? Have I ever once gave that impression? I know I'm an asshole but have I ever once laid a finger on a woman in a harmful way?" Dean was shaking his head. "The only thing I've ever done without permission is some harmless flirting!"

Allen looked completely taken aback. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he gave up and simply stared at Dean.

"Just so you know, there's nothing I hate more than that act." Dean's voice was like venom. "And consider that I understand what it's like...that maybe, just maybe, in Hell they do it to you, a lot. And even worse, they take the form of someone you love and show it happening to them until you believe it."

Allen's eyes drifted to Sam and then back to Dean, connecting two and two together. But still, he remained perfectly silent.

Dean's hand was shaking and his breathing was harsh. Sam went over to place a hand on his back and lead Dean away from Allen, but his brother shoved him off and started walking away.

"I need some air," he said gruffly. "Be back in ten."

Sam felt his heart breaking for his brother, and suddenly he was overcome by an intense rage.

"You just can't let him be can you?" he seethed at Allen. "He fought against everything Hell tried to turn him into and came out damaged and broken in ways, but such a damn good person. And you refuse to see that."

"I...Sam...come on," Allen stuttered.

"No. I can understand you don't like him because he's a demon and you have issues with that. But you can't just ignore all the good he's done and accuse him of all this crap you make up because you want to hurt him." Sam ran a shaky hand through his hair. "If you can't leave him alone, I'm going to have to ask you to go, to find your own way. I won't sit by and let my brother be abused by you for no reason."

"For no reason? He's a..."

"He's a demon! Yes, we all know!" Sam raised his hands in the air. "Would you let it go already? He hasn't done anything to warrant you harassing him! Just try and leave him alone, it can't be that hard."

Allen folded his arms. "Fine."

Sam turned away from him and faced Heather. "I'm going to get Dean, you make sure this asshole doesn't come after us to start something else."

Heather nodded but before Sam could walk away, she grabbed his arm. "Sam...you know I don't feel like Allen does, right? Toward Dean?"

Sam smiled. "I know that Heather. And thank you."

The young woman shook her head. "Don't thank me. Dean...he saved me back at the library when he didn't have to. He's absolutely nothing like the other demons. Just...I think he's pretty awesome, being able to be different. Let him know that, could you try? I don't think he would listen to me if I told him."

"Well, you've got that right. I can try, but he'd still probably cut me off and tell me to shut up about cheesy stuff."

"But at least he'd know." Heather smiled.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. He could hear something splash from the direction Dean had stormed off in. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

It didn't take long for Sam to find his brother. Dean was over by the stream, angrily tossing rocks into it with a look of disgust on his face.

"Hey," Sam spoke quietly. He walked up beside his brother, who handed him a stone of his own.

Instead of flinging the thing in the water, Sam focused and kept his arm straight. The stone went skipping across the surface in a perfect pattern, before sinking below the water.

"Remember skipping stones every morning when we stayed at that cabin, the one in our dream world?" Dean didn't answer, but he didn't tell Sam to stop talking either, so he continued. "We were so bored. No TV, no video games...I thought you were going to go crazy. Heck, I didn't even have very many books to read. But we found things to do, as simple as skipping stones. We found ways to relax, to have fun." He put a hand on Dean's shoulder. "We will have times like that again. We will find some place safe and we'll get to relax. We'll have everyone back and you won't have to worry about Allen always bothering you."

Dean shoved off Sam's hand. "Sure, if we do find everyone and a place to settle, he won't be as vocal, but I'm always going to be getting those looks. There will always be those stupid comments. What if people start to side with him? After everything I've fucking done..."

"They're not going to side with him Dean. Not everyone is as blind as Allen. Hell, you know what Heather just told me? She thinks you're awesome. I think she even worships you in a way."

"What? Just because I didn't kill her? The only reason I didn't is because I knew I would snap if I did."

Sam shook his head. "That's not true and you know it. It may be part of the reason, but you didn't want to kill an innocent person. You gained back your stability after we communicated in the dream world and made up. You could have killed her and remained just fine afterward. But you didn't."

Dean clenched his fists and looked away, but luckily didn't deny anything Sam had said.

"You're a good person Dean. Don't let what he says get to you."

"He honestly thinks I'd want Sadie to get raped?"

"For some reason, he just can't separate who you are from what he knows of demons in general. He probably is confused as to why a demon would care to be against it."

"Maybe because some demons had to watch what they believed to be their little brother being assaulted day after day! I know how it felt to me, and imagining that happening to you...damn it, it drove me crazy! Does he think I would want to wish that on anyone?"

Sam was shocked by how open Dean was being, finally letting out some of the horrors he had gone through, and he was bringing them up on his own. Sam put his hand back on Dean's shoulder and thankfully this time, his brother didn't push him away. "Like I said again Dean, you're a good person. And he either has to realize that or leave you alone. I made sure he knows that."

Dean sighed. "Whatever. Let's just head back. Damn it, I wish he had been one to croak instead of someone else."

Normally Sam would have scolded Dean, but he didn't see a point. Of course, while Dean wasn't going to kill Allen, he would have hoped the man that hated him wouldn't have survived.

"We'll find Sadie and Aiden and we're going to get them back, no matter what," Sam told his brother as they walked back.

"Oh, I'm going to make sure of it. And if that town is as messed up as I think it is, there's gonna be a massacre waiting for them."

This...this wasn't just about Dean thinking back to what he witnessed happen to 'Sam' in Hell. This was Dean actually caring for others. On some level, he did care about Sadie and Aiden, and he didn't want to see them hurt. One thing had always been true about Dean, human or demon...if you messed with someone he cared about, you were going to feel his wrath.

Sam shuddered. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what his brother had in mind for the culprits.

* * *

Heather and Allen had found a house off a dirt trail the day before, so they decided to lead the brothers to it so they could rest before continuing on their journey. Dean was glad. He and Sam hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and if he was exhausted, he couldn't imagine how his brother must feel.

"So how are we going to go about doing this?" Sam asked, referring to how they would save Sadie and Aiden. The four of them were sitting in the living room, the brothers and Heather on the couch and Allen sulking in the chair across from them.

It was late, and if it weren't for the candles Dean had lit, they wouldn't have been able to see each other in the dark.

"I say I just barge in and start killing people." Dean shrugged.

Allen suddenly became alert, glaring at Dean and starting to open his mouth.

"Don't even try." Dean pointed at the man. "You _know_  what kind of people these kidnappers probably are. It's what I  _want_  to do...but I'm not actually going to do it. I wasn't being serious."

"We have to find out what's going on...if we can even find the people," Sam continued before Allen could say anything. "Hopefully you guys are right and they do live in Fairfax. But if they did...do you think some others in our group went over there and got taken too? It's where we were supposed to meet up."

"If people are living there, it would have been noticeable," Heather pointed out. "No one in our group would have just walked into the city if they saw people there. But maybe others got captured on their way like Sadie and Aiden did."

Sam nodded. "So, just for the heck of it, let's say the kidnappers did go to the town and do have a community there. Do you think they would let us in, if we acted like we were mostly harmless?"

"They wanted people," Allen spoke gruffly. "If you don't fight them, they'd probably take you along."

"We'd have to play the perfect role Sammy. It would be tricky." Dean wasn't sure of the situation. He didn't want to risk Sam getting hurt if these people would try to kill them. Not that Dean would ever let them lay a finger on his Sammy; he'd destroy them all before that would happen

"I know it would be, but if we could get in, we could find Sadie and Aiden and hopefully find an easy way out."

"But if there are rapists and shit there...I'm not letting them go." Dean growled, his face grew dark.

"Okay," Sam agreed. "We do have to take them down, we have to stop anything bad from happening to more innocent people. But we have to make sure we know who are the culprits and who is the innocents before we do."

"You're gonna trust him to control himself over who he's killing?" Allen stood up. "Do you know how demons get..."

"I know how demons are, I've been fighting them my whole life." Sam glared at the man. "But I also know my brother. I know him way better than you do. Dean will be fine and I'll be right there to help him."

"Help him? He shouldn't need a babysitter..."

"My god, it's everything with you isn't it?" Dean asked. He bet he could save a hundred people and Allen would find something wrong about the way he did it. "I can't do anything right."

"Allen, shut up or leave this room. We're talking about how to save people and you have to twist it to something Dean is doing wrong."

Dean breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness for his brother.

Allen turned around and stormed over to a bedroom, muttering something under his breath.

"What was that?" Dean called out. Sam nudged his brother, trying to get him to stop instigating the man.

But Allen didn't take the bait; he walked into the bedroom and slammed the door.

"Well this is going to be fun," Dean muttered.

Heather was looking over at Dean, something that looked like worry was written over her features.

Dean noticed her staring. "I know I'm beautiful, but at least try and make your ogling less obvious."

Heather shook her head. "Well, you are good looking, but I don't think that's going to fix your problem."

"What problem?" Dean snapped. He couldn't believe this woman had a problem with him suddenly as well...

"Your eyes. Didn't you say before you couldn't switch them back? Are they still stuck black? You can't go into a town like that."

Oh. Well she had a point, not that Dean would admit that.

"Maybe I can change them back now," Dean said. "I haven't tried. I'll just..." Dean closed his eyes and concentrated. It felt a bit uncomfortable but didn't get a headache like before. He opened his eyes with a smile. "There."

He knew something was wrong at Heather's bewildered expression. Then, Sam had to go and burst into crazy laughter.

Great.

"What is it?" Dean asked slowly. He was afraid of the answer. Whatever it was must make him look super ridiculous if it got Sammy laughing that hard.

"You have to see this!" Sam stood up, grabbing Dean's arm and pulling him down the hallway with Heather following...and  _giggling_ , the whole way.

"This better be fucking hilarious or I'm gonna..."

Sam dragged Dean through the bathroom and pointed at the mirror.

They had lit a candle in the bathroom since they could still use it. The plumbing still worked since the house ran on well water. In the dim light, Dean stared at his reflection and his mouth fell open.

"Oh, come on!"

Sam laughed harder. Heather was actually on the ground, her breath hitching as she fought to control her giggling and catch her breath.

"It's not often you'd see that!" Sam bellowed.

"You  _never_  see this! It's not funny! Now what am I supposed to do?"

Dean glared back at his reflection. His right eye was back to its human-green shade, and his left one...well it was still black.

He closed his eyes and tried to fix to make them both human. No such luck. He tried again and willed them to both go back to his natural demon-black.

Nope. His damn eyes were stuck like this.

Despite his irritation at the situation and worry over what the hell he was going to do about it, he couldn't help but crack a smile. Sam and Heather had a point. He  _did_ look ridiculously funny.

"You're kinda worked up right now. Maybe just get some sleep and try again tomorrow?" Sam suggested, still unable to hold back his smile.

"I can't go into the town like this! We can't let them know I'm a demon!"

"We'll just see if you can change them tomorrow. If not, we'll adjust our plan, don't worry."

"I look like some kind of mutant!"

"And a mutant's worse than being a demon?" Sam snickered. Dean scowled at him and reached over to punch him in the shoulder. The younger brother ducked away just in time.

"We can...we can always make a makeshift eye patch for you." Heather spoke between fits of laughter that were finally calming down. "They wouldn't...think anything odd of you getting injured."

"A mutated demon-pirate!" Sam sniggered, having way too much fun with this chance to tease his brother.

In all truth, Dean was glad Sam could laugh so much over something like this. But he had to play the irritated older brother. He was the one that was supposed to tease Sam, not the other way around.

"Laugh at me once more and you'll also have one black eye."

Sam chuckled so hard tears came to his eyes. Heather was still on the ground; she reached the point of hysterics where she couldn't even make a sound, only hiccupping now and then.

Dean heard a door open and saw Allen emerge, probably wanting to know just what was so amusing. He finally noticed Dean's eyes and scowled, shaking his head in disgust.

"Yeah, that's just so cute and hilarious," he muttered and stepped away to hide back in his bedroom.

"Someone doesn't have a sense of humor," Dean snarked and then looked back at Sam and Heather. "Alright, yeah it's funny, but it's not that funny. Come on, help me get some weapons ready for tomorrow."

"Alright, be there in a minute...mutant."

Sam wasn't able to duck the roll of toilet paper that was aimed at his face.

* * *

They woke up early the next morning, prepared to make it to the town by nightfall. Sam got up before Dean and decided that he better shower before they left. He hadn't showered after they left the hotel, and since the water still worked here, he could actually clean himself pretty well. The heater didn't work of course without power, so it would be a cold shower, but Sam could handle it.

He walked into the hallway only to hear the front door open. He cursed himself for not taking a knife with him, but relaxed to see that it was only Allen with a duffle in his hands.

The man glanced at the towel and change of clothes Sam had in his arms. "Don't bother. Shower spits out brown water. Stinks too. I had to go wash up in the stream."

He then walked past Sam and into his bedroom. Okay, then.

It was strange as hell to bathe in the stream. Sam found himself paranoid of any possible open cuts, but he didn't see any, and besides, the chances of the water in this smaller stream being infected were lower.

Still, he made sure to wash his face and hair with some purified water, just in case any got in his eyes or mouth.

Feeling much better, Sam made his way back to the cabin and shaved with the razors and shaving cream he found in the house. They did carry an electric one on them, but Dean would have to be in the room to get it working, and Sam didn't want his brother standing next to him and poking jokes while he shaved.

After he finished, he walked out into the living room to find Dean and Heather arguing about who got to take a shower first.

"I'm a man and therefore, I am prone to stinking easier," Dean was saying. Sam couldn't help but laugh, what the hell?

"Oh yeah, that's not an assumption at all." Heather rolled her eyes.

"Tell her Sammy." Dean turned to face his brother. "Tell her we stink more."

"I'm surprised you would ever admit that in front of a woman. That doesn't make you very appealing. Besides, the shower water is brown and stinks more than the both of you combined. You'll have to take turns by the stream."

"Well that's just great." Dean huffed. "But anyway, I'm not trying to be appealing to Heather. I wouldn't want to hook up with her." He smirked toward her. "No offense, but your whining and crying back with Alastair ruined it for me."

"None taken." She smiled. "We're way better off as friends anyway."

Dean looked a little taken aback by her use of the word 'friends', but didn't say anything. However, Sam smiled. Maybe Dean was actually realizing that people did care about him and view him as more than a tool to protect themselves.

Sam suddenly remembered Dean's eyes had been different colored yesterday, but today they were back to both being black. "Dean...your eyes," he spoke up, interrupting his brother's rant with Heather.

"Oh yeah. When I woke up I tried to change them back and it worked." Dean shrugged. "I guess I just needed some sleep and to heal some more."

"Do you think you'd be able to change both of them back to green?" he asked.

"Well, there's one way to find out." Dean closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His brow furrowed in concentration and then he opened his eyes.

They were both the bright green that Sam hadn't seen in so long. It looked positively out of place on his brother, but Sam smiled nonetheless. This was one less problem they had to deal with.

"So, by your dorky grin, I figure it worked. Good." He turned to look at Heather. "Quit staring."

"I can't ever remember seeing your eyes," she said thoughtfully. "Even back at Bobby's."

"You saw them every day, I've never had my eyes gouged out of my head, sweetheart."

Heather huffed at Dean's condescending tone. "You know what I mean. Your real..." She quickly corrected herself when Dean began to scowl. "...your human ones."

"Yeah well here they are, bask in all their glory. Now do I get to take that bath first or what?"

Sam sighed. "We're wasting time guys. Do I have to find a coin and flip it?"

Heather shook her head, smiling a little. "No. You're right, we are wasting our time. And we'd waste even more time taking turns. Now that I know Dean doesn't ever want to sleep with me, I'm fine if we both bathe at the same time."

Dean's eyebrows rose up. "Just because I don't want to hook up with you doesn't mean I'm not going to look. I mean, you _are_  young and hot."

Heather grinned mischievously at Dean. "Oh don't worry, I'm going to peek quite a few looks myself. You  _do_  have very pretty eyes."

Dean groaned loudly but headed out the door, Heather following him. Well, it looked like they would get along just fine and he doubted it would be Dean's eyes Heather would be staring at.

Of course, with Sam's luck, when he turned to get ready to pack up, Allen was standing there with his arms crossed.

"You're going to let your pervert demon brother bathe naked with a woman?"

Sam closed his eyes and willed himself not to strangle this man. "My brother is  _not_  a pervert."

"He slept with enough different women at the hotel."

"Dean has always been one for one night stands, you think that would change with him being a demon now? And all the women  _knew_ that and they sure didn't have a problem with it."

Allen's stiff posture still didn't change. "It's a  _demon_...sleeping with a  _human_."

Sam threw his hands up in the air. "Yeah, it is! And your point is...?" He sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "They all knew that as well. They wanted to sleep with him! Dean never did anything but flirt with a woman unless they wanted to pursue it more! What are you trying to say...that he's forcing himself upon them?"

"Woah, woah..." Allen took a step back, as if just noticing how far he was pushing Sam. "I never said that. I just think it's weird that they all throw themselves at him knowing what he is...and that Heather has no problem being naked in front of him!"

"You've seen Dean, right? I mean, it's not like his body is ugly...they don't care about the demon part because they know him enough and he respects their wishes. He's in his own body so there's no possession issue going on." Sam shook his head; he was getting tired of stating common sense to this man. When would he get it? "And Heather knows Dean can control himself! Even if he did want to hook up with her, he'd never make a move on her without her consent!"

"I just don't get it. How can a demon possible have more morals than some humans? Explain that."

Sam could understand Allen's confusion on that end. Maybe this explained some of the problems he had with Dean. "I don't know what to tell you other than Dean was a good man before he went to Hell. Unlike most demons, he sold his soul to save someone he loves. He held onto that...onto that bond with me and he retained some humanity. Some humans they're..."

Sam had to stop as he swallowed thickly; thinking of what the people may be like that took Sadie and Allen. "They're messed up from the start, or they become so screwed up that they're just...evil. You don't need to be inhuman to be evil. And sometimes, things that aren't human...things that are meant to be evil...they defy the odds."

Something seemed to click into place for Allen, as his expression finally had a hint of understanding in it. But still...he still seemed stubborn, still set on not trusting Dean. But Sam had gotten through to him. Maybe he just needed more time...or something to happen that would be some kind of breakthrough between him and Dean.

Sam could only hope.

* * *

Dean had been stupid. Stupid stupid stupid. They had been walking for four hours and were getting hungry. Sam had suggested finding a small clearing and gathering to eat. But Dean insisted that they at least find some shelter.

What an idiot he had been.

He had spotted another cabin, a very small one, probably a fisherman's hideaway, and decided that would be the perfect place for them to rest for a half an hour or so.

Not expecting anything inside, since it was a small cabin and he didn't sense any Croats, he threw open the door, still making sure everyone else stayed a ways back just in case.

"Holy shit!"

A hoard of Croats exploded through the door, pushing Dean down in their haste to get free of their confined prison.

He heard Heather and Sam's yells mixed in with the loud grunting and groaning.

Were the Croats now changing so much that demons couldn't sense them anymore?

Dean didn't stop to give it anymore than a passing thought. He quickly teleported away, appearing behind his brother.

He didn't even need to mind-talk to realize if Sam wanted to fight or flight. One look into his brother's eyes and he knew Sam couldn't stand to run. He had to allow Sam's decision, as much as he just wanted to grab Sam and run to safety. His brother was a grown man and a damn good hunter. He would be okay, they could do this.

 _Be careful,_  Dean said, both of them getting ready to attack the charging Croats.

_You too._

They ran forward, Dean taking the left of the group, which seemed to be more congested. There had to be about 20 of them. It shouldn't be too hard with how quickly he could decapitate them, as long as he wasn't grabbed from behind.

He reached the first Croat and swung, already turned toward his next target only to see Heather on his other side, doing a pretty good job herself of severing the monster's neck. It hung on by a few tendons, but one more swing and the head was rolling away.

Hopefully she wouldn't take on more than she could handle.

Dean turned back to the group and quickly took out three more in a sea of blood. He saw one reaching out to grab Heather from behind, and he quickly threw the monster to the ground and sent his machete through its neck. Another Croat charged toward him, and Dean grabbed onto its shirt in order to toss it to the ground before swinging. This would have been easier if he had his other arm to help him, but it was simple enough. Besides, he enjoyed having a bit of a challenge.

Sparing a quick glance toward Sam, Dean was pleased to see that his brother was holding his own. Allen was over there as well, and at least it seemed like the asshole knew how to fight.

One of the Croats on Dean's side started running over to Sam, so Dean followed after it, hoping Heather could take out the other two that were left. He grabbed the creature's arm and slammed it into the nearest tree, pressing the blade against its neck and let both the head and body fall to the ground.

"Allen, move!" Sam's voice called out and Dean turned to see two Croats advancing on the man.

Sam still had three Croats to take care of himself, and Dean didn't want Allen's problems to take his brother's concentration away.

 _I'll take care of it,_ Dean told him, marching over to where Allen stood with Croats on either side of him.

But then the idiot did the stupidest thing he could do, he ran. Or at least he tried to. He attempted to duck and dodge one of the Croats and make his way past them, but the monster grabbed onto his arm and fell on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

The other Croat screamed in a creepy delighted way and lunged for Allen's thrashing legs, biting the air in excited anticipation. Dean quickly took the thing out before it could reach down for its first bite.

Now the other Croat was going to be a bit of an issue. Its mouth was mere inches away from Allen's face, and if Dean swung, he would probably hit and kill the man. Not that Dean would exactly mind, but there were safety in numbers so he needed Allen alive.

His best chance was to pull the Croat off of him and hope that he was able to get the upper hand before the Croat got a chance to pin him to the floor. With his one broken arm, he slightly doubted his chances. But it had to be done.

Dean grabbed at the monster, but before he could pull it away, he saw Sam running forward, quickly assessing the situation.

 _I'll pull it away, pin it down, you decapitate it,_ Sam told him.

Sam's extra pair of hands were exactly what Dean needed. His brother was able to use both hands to grab the Croat and pin it to the ground. It was strong, but Sam only had to hold it down for a few seconds before Dean sent its head rolling.

Heather ran over to them and they just sat there for a minute, all four of them breathing heavily. It seemed they weren't worse for wear, but Dean had to check.

"Anyone bit?" he asked, walking over to Sam first and inspecting him. He knew Sam wasn't, his brother would have known if he was and besides, he was perfectly capable to take down those Croats. But it didn't hurt to be sure. Once he was satisfied, he moved onto Heather, not finding anything other than smeared Croat blood on her arms.

When he went to check Allen, the man forcefully pushed him away.

"I'm not bit! Leave me the fuck alone!"

"Oh I'll be happy to asshat, but after I check first."

Allen stood up and shoved his arms right in Dean's face. "Here! Here! Look, no bites! Happy now?"

Sam got up as well, joining Dean's side. "Allen, my brother just saved your life, show a little respect, okay?"

Something in Allen seemed to snap right then. "Yeah, he saved me! Why?!" He turned toward Dean and walked forward grabbing his shirt and shaking him. "Why the hell would you save me?"

Normally, Dean would have angrily shoved Allen off of him, but his behavior was intriguing. He decided to just run with it because this was just too interesting.

He saw Sam approaching from behind but Dean locked eyes with him.

 _Let him freak out, I want to see what's going on,_  Dean informed his brother.

Sam nodded and backed up, but still seemed on alert, as if he was ready to attack Allen if he tried anything on Dean. Pssh, like Allen would even be capable of hurting him!

"And you're mad at me saving you because..." Dean focused back on the man and let his voice trail off in a curious tone.

Dean's lighthearted tone seemed to irritate the man even more. "Why! Why aren't you yelling at me? Why aren't you attacking me? Why the hell did you save me?" Allen shook Dean once more. "I don't understand! I don't even deserve it! Why couldn't my sister get this damn lucky?! Why did she have to suffer?"

Dean raised an eyebrow in interest. Huh? Sister? What was this?

Allen suddenly let go of Dean. His shoulders slummed and he ran a hand through his hair, blinking back tears.

Well, okay. Something with his sister must have had to do with his attitude. Talking about her must have finally broken something in him.

"Your sister?" Sam asked softly and Dean was once again grateful for his brother because he had no idea what he was supposed to do in a situation like this. "Did...did something happen to her? What does it have to do with Dean?"

"It has everything to do with him!" Allen threw his hands in the air.

"I never touched your damn sister," Dean growled. Was this where this was going to go? Allen was now blaming Dean for even his own personal problems?

"That's the whole point!" Allen said, his voice taking on a panicky tone. "You didn't touch her! You wouldn't have! So why? Why did she have to get so damn unlucky? It's not fucking fair!"

"Did someone hurt your sister?" Sam asked calmly, coming over to stand between Allen and Dean.

Allen looked up and Dean watched how he met Sam's eyes, his expression taking on a lost and dark quality.

"Demons hurt her. They...did more than that...she didn't even have a chance."

"They possess her?" Dean decided to speak up. He knew demons, he may not act like them but he knew them all too well. Their behavior was even written in Dean's own nature, he just had the power to ignore it and the ability to make his own choices.

He knew demons liked to mess around with their victims. When the disease starting spreading, many demons found their fun in simply killing, but Dean knew that many of them liked the chaos and wanted to create more in any way possible. So they played with their victims, it was more fun.

This knowledge, and by seeing the look on Allen's face, was what caused Dean to come to the possession conclusion. The desperation in the man's tone matched his own when Sam was possessed. The feeling that knowing someone you love was being controlled by something and forced to do terrible things...it really messed with your head and made you feel completely helpless.

Allen glanced over at him, gritting his teeth. "Yes. So why don't you just do the same to me? God knows I deserve it more than her!"

Dean cocked an eyebrow. "If you want to get possessed and have your body used to do horrible things, then you're looking at the wrong demon, buddy."

 _No, Dean._ Sam's voice entered Dean's thoughts.  _I think he feels guilty for surviving when his sister didn't. I think his attitude toward you is because he couldn't understand how one demon could be so bad and another be good. He wishes the roles would have been reversed, that his sister could have run into you instead of the demon that she did._

Oh, well that made sense. But still, it wasn't like Dean was going to smile and forgive the man for all the shit he put him through.

"Let's keep walking so we can get away from this area in case it alerted anyone. We can find a safe spot to take a rest," Sam said. "And you can tell us what happened to your sister, Allen."

"I don't want to talk about it!" Allen grumbled.

"Well you already mentioned it and intrigued me, so you gotta finish." Dean smirked. "I won't leave you alone until you do. So come on, let's get a move on."

They walked for fifteen minutes more before they reached a clearing and Dean determined it was a good spot to take a break. Forget finding a shelter, they should be fine here.

He got out the rest of the deer meat and fish. They had to use it now before it went bad and it should hold off hunger until they got to the town. Sam grabbed a box of the stale crackers they found at the first cabin and opened it up for them to all share.

"So, what about this dead sister of yours?" Dean asked, causing everyone to stare at him with wide eyes.

"Dean!" Sam scolded him in his 'angry little brother' voice.

"What? If it weren't for me you'd all be awkwardly dancing around the topic. Let's just get to the point already." He turned to Allen. "Your dead sister, what happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Dean opened his mouth to say something snarky back, but Sam spoke up before he could.

"Allen, you already 'opened the dam' so to speak and it's probably driving you crazy not being able to get the whole story out."

"It's been driving me crazy since it happened to her!"

"Then tell us," Sam encouraged the man and Dean had to appreciate how calm his brother was. There was no way in hell he could even fake how Sam was being. "Let it all out. You'll feel better once you're not keeping it all in."

Dean was about to make a joke about how dirty that sounded but he forced himself to stop. Sam would just get mad at him and it would stall the story. And Dean _really_  wanted to hear that story.

Allen looked back and forth between the brothers and Heather before letting out a long sigh. "Fine, what do you want me to tell you?"

"We just explained what...," Dean began to say only for his brother to cut him off with a stern look.

"Just start from the beginning," Sam told the man, "Did it happen right after the outbreak?"

Allen nodded, his posture stiff. "She broke up with her boyfriend and I was in-between jobs so I was helping her raise her two kids. The demon came soon after the virus started. It was actually before things got really bad. That's why I didn't realize...didn't realize she was possessed." He swallowed, looking like he might be sick. "And the worst thing was...I don't even know exactly when it happened. She would always take these trips down to the hospital to help out...she had just started off as an intern and they would gladly take any help they could get. And during one of those trips...she came back with a demon in her. I should have realized...there had to have been some signs earlier that something was off."

"You can't blame yourself Allen, you didn't even know demons were real at the time," Sam spoke up.

"But I eventually did learn! And I still didn't put two and two together! She was my sister. I should have known it wasn't her!"

Dean shrugged. "Demons can tap into a person's mind and thoughts. All their memories. We can push their soul back of course, but we can always keep the person semi-conscious and read their minds. That's how they can pretend to be someone else so well."

He wasn't sure why he had bothered to speak up and add to the conversation. But maybe it had been good that he did. Allen finally looked at him in a way other than hatred.

"That's true? Really? You're not just making this shit up to make me feel better?"

Dean raised an eyebrow. "Do you honestly think I care about making you feel better? That the thought would ever cross my mind? It's the truth, it's why so many demons were able to trick people."

"But why did it trick us when it could have been helping spreading the disease? Why did it decide to target my family and destroy it? Her kids..." Allen shook his head, looking away.

"Because it's fun." Allen immediately glared in horror at Dean and he raised his hands in defense. "Hey, just speaking the truth, messing with people is fun to a demon. It's how we can let out aggression that formed after all the years of torture. The difference with me is that I'm fine messing with people in ways that don't actually physically hurt them."

"What happened to the kids?" Heather finally added to the conversation and when Dean took one look at her, he knew why. He could see the tears in her eyes and the pain in her face. She was thinking about what happened to her son and was probably hoping a better outcome happened with the sister's children.

Yeah, Dean doubted that was the case.

The man began shaking his head, tears flowing down his face. "Ashley...she had a boy and a girl. They were the sweetest...always listened to mom, you know? So even when she asked them to do questionable things...they did it." He paused and looked Dean dead in the eyes. "The demon made her invite a bunch of our family over...our parents and aunts and uncles and friends...and asked me to go gather our rations that the city began handing out. When I got back...they were...they were all dead."

"And you didn't realize something was off then?" Dean scoffed, ignoring the look of protest Sam sent his way.

"She told me that one of them had turned and attacked the others so she had to take them out. I chose to believe her, what else could I do? My sister would never kill anyone without a reason! But I still...I had my worries. I couldn't imagine Ashley killing even one infected person without wanting me there as support. And for her to kill eight people? She didn't even seem too upset about it..."

"It's hard for demons to fake emotions." Dean nodded. "I mean look at me."

Allen shook his head and Dean was sure some kind of insult was going to come out of his mouth. What the man ended up saying though, surprised him.

"No. That's the thing. You do have emotions. Answer me this. Would you have killed my innocent family for fun? Would you have tricked me and the kids by telling us you found a safe location, only to trap us in an abandoned building? Would you have..." he stopped for a moment and took a deep breath.

"Would you have slowly tortured my sister's children while using her body to do it?" Allen continued. "Laugh as the poor kids screamed? Belittle me as you trapped me to the wall and I cried for you to stop? Would you let the kids just barely hang onto life before having Croats come in and bite them...and then let them turn? Would you do any of that?"

Dean stared the man down. "No. I wouldn't do any of that shit," he answered honestly.

Allen nodded. "I knew it. So tell me why I got lucky enough to run into a demon that tries to save people and my sister got possessed by one that decided to play around with my family and kill them all?"

So this explained why Allen was such an ass to him. He was angry at the fact that he found a demon that wasn't evil because his sister had gotten possessed by a psychotic one. And maybe...

"Allen, were you purposely trying to piss me off so that I would kill you?"

Just from the look on the man's face, Dean knew he had been right. "Well...part of it, okay! I didn't feel like I deserved to get lucky. At first I did think there was no way any goddamn demon could be on our side. And when I kept getting proved wrong, I wanted to try everything. I wanted to see if saying the wrong thing or pissing you off would reveal your true colors. I didn't want to believe that it was possible a demon could be good and if I could get you to break, I wanted it to be me that you killed. It would only be fair to Ashley."

Okay, this guy was more screwed up than even Dean thought. "So you would purposely endanger a group of people by trying to have me break?"

"I...no! What? I figured that all demons were evil and that it was only a matter of time before you showed your true self and I was only speeding up the process. I didn't think...I didn't think in doing that I would endanger anyone! I thought I'd be protecting them from you!"

"Then you're damn lucky you were wrong in your stupid ass assumptions of me."

"Allen." Sam stepped toward the man. "I'm so, so sorry about what happened to your sister. And believe it or not, I understand what you went through." He glanced over to Dean, obviously remembering what Lilith caused the hellhounds to do to him.

"Yeah, Dean died. I get it. But you got him back. You can't understand what I have to suffer through because she's never going to come back!"

"No, you're right," Sam said solemnly. "You're absolutely right. I did get my brother back so I don't know what it's like to permanently lose the person closest to me. But you can't blame yourself for something you had no control over."

"But it let me live!" Allen practically bellowed. Dean hoped there weren't any more Croats nearby or else they'd be heading their way for sure. "It teased me with the image of my niece and nephew turning into Croats. Then it flashed its black eyes and said it's been fun but it's going to leave now. That's when I realized it was one of the demons I had been hearing about on the news and I begged it to kill me and let my sister go."

"I'm guessing that didn't turn out so well," Dean said. It wasn't Ashley that the demon had been messing with, it had been Allen all along. It had killed his family and made him watch the torturing and deaths of his niece and nephew all for the demon's amusement. And it had allowed Allen to live because it knew he would suffer. There was nothing most demons enjoyed more than suffering.

Allen didn't even look Dean's way when he spoke, he just stared out into the forest. "It told me that wasn't going to happen. That I would have to live in agony with what had happened. It said Ashley saw the whole thing happen. And then...then it stabbed itself...Ashley...in the heart and told me that when it left her body, it would take her to Hell too. I rushed to Ashley after it smoked out of her, but she was gone. I had to...I had to kill the Croats that my niece and nephew turned into! And then I learned at the hotel that since they turned, they are in Hell too just like my sister?"

He was actually openly crying now. Huh. So the guy did have another emotion other than anger. Interesting. Dean sighed and looked up into the sky. They were losing daylight and needed to get a move on. Hopefully Allen was near the end of his story because this was just wasting time.

"I lost my son too by Croats," Heather suddenly spoke up, speaking quietly. "He...he got bit and I let him turn. I didn't...I didn't know about the Hell thing either. I only thought that he might not turn...he might be immune. But in doing that I condemned him to Hell." A few tears fell out of her eyes. "But Dean told me that he never saw kids in Hell. The kids may not even be getting tortured. So I'm holding onto that hope and that one day they might be released to heaven. And I know now...there's nothing I can do. I have to keep going and try to help other people from suffering the same fate."

"Heather knows what's up." Dean nodded toward the woman.

Allen didn't acknowledge what he said. "Did you really not see any children?" he asked instead.

Oh, _now_  Allen wanted to ask him questions instead of insult him? Dean sighed. "No. I didn't. I don't think kids were allowed to go to Hell. And now that they are there because of this virus...they probably all got thrown into some room while the demons figured out what to do with them. Crowley's in charge now and while he's not a nice guy, he doesn't get his kicks by hurting kids. He's probably just watching them bicker and argue amongst each other for entertainment."

"Honestly?" Allen asked.

"Dude, do I look like someone who cares to lie to make you feel better? No. And I've never lied once to any of you. I have no reason to. It's stupid. I'm brutally honest and what you hear is all the truth."

"Allen," Sam spoke up, looking at the man with his stupid puppy-dog stare. "What happened to your sister and her kids is terrible. And it explains why you were acting the way you were. But Dean's not like that. You know he's not. He would never do anything like that. I know it hurt to know there was a chance your sister could have ran into Dean instead of the demon she did, but the odds were practically impossible. There is no other demon like Dean. Your sister got unlucky and you just got...very very lucky to run into Dean."

"But how she would feel to know that I live with one and depend on it for survival..."

"I think she would understand," Sam continued. "She would know that you were cautious and didn't want to trust him but that he passed every test and was helping people. That he doesn't act like any other demon."

Dean wanted to add in that of _course_  Ashley wouldn't mind because she was bound to be a demon now herself. But even he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut on that matter.

"Dean didn't do anything to deserve bad treatment and verbal attacks. Please just trust him and let your judgments down. You don't have to be friends but you  _are_  allies."

And then Dean got the shock of the year.

"Okay," Allen said. Not one ounce of argument or rebuttal. He wiped his eyes and looked in the direction they needed to travel. "We need to get to the town and find the others. I'm ready, let's go."

Dean shrugged, glad that was all over with. He stood up and gestured for Sam and Heather to follow.

 _You think that's all over with?_ He asked Sam as they walked along.

_I think he will leave you alone but I'm sure you'll still butt heads. It will be a process._

Whatever. Dean could deal with that. As long as Allen was cooperative now was all he cared about. It would make finding Sadie and Aiden that much easier.

* * *

It was about two hours until sunset and the group could see the trees clearing out and a dirt road in the distance. Sam was glad that they had arrived before dark. About ten minutes ago Allen and Heather had informed them that they passed the location where they were approached by the kidnappers. No one had been there but the close proximity to the town further proved to the brothers that the kidnappers were in the small town of Fairfax.

They stopped where they were at and Dean announced that he had a plan.

"We're gonna walk on in and act like we're survivors looking for trades to be made. But one of us has to stay here and guard our stuff. We can't risk bringing too much in."

"And if we do, they'll get suspicious," Sam added.

"Right," Dean continued. "So Allen, since they saw you, you're going to stay back and make sure nothing bad happens to us."

Dean was narrowing his eyes at the man, as if he expected Allen to argue or pick a fight. Sam almost thought he would, despite his previous agreement. But he didn't.

"But shouldn't Heather stay back too?" he only asked.

Dean shook his head. "They didn't see you, right?" he asked Heather.

"No, I was hiding. They didn't have a clue I was there."

"But that's not the point," Allen said, his voice rising a bit but not getting as angry as he would before. "They want women and children. It's not a good idea to go in."

Sam thought about that. "He does have a point Dean."

Dean seemed to be deep in thought as well before shaking his head. "No. They want kids because they are easy to manipulate into their ways. And I'm guessing they want women to pair up with men there and produce more kids. If one of us act like Heather is our wife, they'll probably be even more likely to take us in, thinking that we could easily produce kids."

Allen folded his arms. It still seemed like he didn't want to immediately accept Dean's ideas. "Why don't you ask Heather how she feels about that?"

Dean glared at Allen but didn't say anything. The man  _had_ toned down his behavior and this was something that Sam believed Dean could deal with just fine.

Heather shrugged. "I'm fine with that. I'll be safe. And Dean's right, it will be more believable. I'll take Sam as my husband, since with your behavior, it would be hard to believe you'd be married." She smirked.

Dean nodded with a smirk of his own. "Good idea, Sammy's much more the lovey-dovey husband type."

Sam huffed. Leave it to Dean.

Allen sighed but didn't argue any further. "Fine, let's get ready then."

* * *

The brothers and Heather kept alert while walking down the dirt road, but they didn't want to seem too suspicious.

Act like a regular survivor. Not a hunter. That was what Sam was telling himself.

"There, look." Dean nudged Sam and pointed in the distance. They could see the outlines of the small town, but it was too far away to see what condition it was in or if it was occupied.

"Alright. Let's just head forward and hope for the best." Sam turned toward Heather. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm good." She nodded and Sam had to admire her bravery. She'd come a long way from the scared and untrustworthy woman she was before. "But I'll be better when we get them back and we're all safe."

They continued walking, seeing absolutely nothing along the way. This led Sam to believe that there definitely were survivors nearby that had cleared the area. Normally in an open area like this, they would have at least seen a Croat or two in the distance.

While Sam was thinking about the lack of Croats, he considered the shack in the forest that had been full of them. It wouldn't have been natural for all those people to have died in that small space. So how did they get there? Why would someone go to the trouble of trapping them in there instead of killing them?

He needed to talk to Dean about that later, but for now, he'd focus on finding Aiden and Sadie. They would be in Fairfax. They had to be.

But all of Sam's hopes came to a crashing stop once they neared the town.

"There's...there's not even fences or gates surrounding it!" he pointed out.

Dean looked like he found the situation odd as well but he shook his head. "That doesn't mean anything. Maybe they're stupid and didn't build any."

"You know no one is that stupid. Anyone that survived this long is smart enough to use all the protection they can get."

The older brother shrugged. "Well, no harm in walking in to find out."

Sam couldn't disagree with that. It was better than just walking away.

They approached the town cautiously, Dean taking the lead. Immediately, it became clear that the town was deserted, and had been since not long after the infection started spreading. The buildings were broken into and looted, debris lined the streets and not a single soul was in sight.

No one lived here. They had been wrong.

"Dean...we have to turn around," Sam spoke dejectedly. They were stopped a hundred feet from the center of the town. "No one has been here, we were wrong."

"But they have to be near!" Heather interjected. "We ran into them not far away, the kidnappers are somewhere in the area."

"But they aren't here." Sam sighed. "They are close? Yes. But how close? We have to go back and search the maps, pinpoint any town nearby and start searching..."

"Sammy, stop." Dean held up his hand, looking around. "You're wrong that no one has been here. Someone definitely has. There's no Croats. This place would be infested if someone didn't clear them out. And I'm betting that someone is..."

"The kidnappers," Heather finished for him.

"Yeah. We have to go in to see if there's any clues to where they might be."

Hope. There was hope. It was what had Sam agreeing and following his brother through the town and into the main strip. They could find...

There was a slight noise, just loud enough to be heard, from up above. Sam spun around, glancing upward. All of them drew their guns.

"Place down your weapons! Now! Or we'll shoot!"

Standing on top of the buildings around them, were at least a handful of survivors, all with rifles pointed toward the group of three.

Sam knew there wasn't anything Dean could do. His powers couldn't reach them, and even if he took out one person, the rest would shoot, killing Sam and Heather.

They were cornered. There was no other choice but to surrender and hope these people would show them mercy.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed. I'm debating if I should stop posting at this site or not. I used to get comments on this series and now it seems like all my readers left. Please take the time to leave a comment and let me know what you thought about this chapter. I just want to know what you think and if you enjoyed. It takes a really long time for me to write chapters of this length and right now I feel like I'm doing it all for nothing. I may stop updating my stories on this site if it seems no one cars about this story anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay! With the holidays and being absolutely slammed at work, I didn't have much time to write! But it's another long chapter to make up for the wait.
> 
> We left off with Sam, Dean and Heather entering the small town they believed Sadie and Aiden to be in. However, they get stopped by a group of armed survivors of the rooftops...
> 
> (Warning: mentions of rape and possible abuse in this chapter.)

The rage inside Dean instantly built up once he saw the people pointing their guns at Sam. He had to stop them. He was too far away to reach them with his powers, but he could maybe take out two before they began shooting and Sam would be able to at least get one. But that still left three more who could possibly shoot Sam even if the brothers and Heather tried to run away. And Heather...well, she seemed to know how to use a gun, but Dean doubted she'd be able to hit them from this far away.

There was also the possibility of the brothers missing their targets as well.

They were screwed, but they had to try...he could...

 _Dean, don't try anything, okay?_ Sam's voice inside Dean's head almost immediately calmed him down. But still, they had to do something or else...

 _We have to fight back or you'll be dead for sure!_ Dean told Sam. _We can kill some off..._

 _No killing Dean._ Of course Sam would think that way. _We don't know who these people are. Let's just listen and put down our weapons like they want us to._

"Put your weapons down now!" one of the men yelled. "We will give you to the count of five. One..."

"What do we do?" Heather said in panic.

"Two..."

"Dean, let's place them down. We'll talk to them..." Sam's eyes were pleading.

"Three..."

"They'll come down to talk and if they try anything we can take them down. Dean, come on."

"Four..."

"Alright, alright!" Dean yelled loud enough for the people to hear. "We're putting them down, hold your horses!"

Dean knelt down with Sam and Heather, placing his gun on the ground. For a minute, he considered picking it up again and shooting them while they were surprised. But he couldn't...it would be too risky. And even if he did succeed, Sam would be pissed at him.

Funny the things that kid prevented him from doing.

"Okay," the man said once the weapons were on the ground. "Now kick them away!"

Dean rolled his eyes but kicked the weapons until they were completely out of reach. "Happy now?"

The man ignored him and gestured at two other people on nearby buildings. "Go down there and check if they have any other weapons on them. Go through their bags."

"Hey! You can take our weapons but you're not taking the shit we carried with us on our backs!" Dean glared at the man, wishing he were close enough so he could set him on fire. "I see what this is. You're pathetic looters, waiting around for clueless people to venture into this abandoned town."

The man didn't stop aiming his gun at Dean's head. "We're not taking your stuff. We have more than enough in our town. We're looking through. If we deem you're not some crazy savages, we'll invite you back with us."

Well, that wasn't what Dean was expecting. "Wait, what?"

"We're always looking for new people. We keep a look out and if we run across them, we ask them to join. Safety in numbers, you know?"

Yeah…uh-uh. Dean was pretty sure that wasn't the reason...

 _Do you think these people are the ones that took Sadie and Aiden?_ Sam asked him, sparing him a look that was full of fear.

_That's exactly what I think Sammy._

_Then let's go along with it, okay? You can keep up your macho personality but don't act like you're extremely dangerous. We need them to lead us to wherever they're staying. We have to play the part._

Dean knew Sam was right. He had been hoping when the people came down to check their weapons, he could use his powers to snap their necks. But it didn't seem like that was going to be the case. It sickened him to think he'd have to pretend to be some idiot that would be okay living in a town that probably used women solely to birth babies, but it had to be done. He was a decent enough actor with all the times he had to pretend to be someone else while hunting.

All they had to do was get there and find Sadie and Aiden and then get the hell out. Well, not before Dean killed some well-deserving people, that was.

Two people approached them; another man and a woman while Dean did his best not to seem too defensive. But if he didn't act skeptical enough, they would also think something was up.

"You guys better be telling the truth," Dean grunted.

"We don't want to kill anyone," the woman said. "Why would we want to destroy the little of the population that's left?" She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. She seemed nervous, as if she were hiding something.

Hmm...interesting.

The guy began patting Sam down, causing Dean to clench his fist so hard that he probably would have bruised his palm if he were human.

Sam noticed this, of course, and looked over toward his big brother _. I'm okay Dean, don't worry._

Dean still stayed on alert. When the man was finished with Sam, he moved onto Dean. It was a smart move to only carry one weapon a piece on them. There were a few knives in their backpacks, but nothing that these people would find suspicious.

Now, if they had carried around the machete with them, that would raise some eyebrows as to how a weapon like that got into their possession.

The man moved onto Heather while the woman started taking the knives out of their bags. When the man started patting over Heather's breasts, Dean couldn't help but let out a low growl and bare his teeth.

"Relax man," the guy spoke. "Gotta make sure she's not hiding anything in there. Your girl's fine."

The smirk on the guy's face told another story and it took everything in Dean's power not to send the knife that was lying on the ground through his throat.

"That's my cousin's wife," Dean spoke darkly, nodding toward Sam. "He's more timid than me and won't speak up, but if you lay a finger on her in a..."

"We're not like that, come on." The man finished and walked back to stand by the woman. He put a hand on her back and she flinched at the contact.

Okay, that wasn't good at all. Now Dean understood it when Sam said he couldn't go and kill everyone that may be in the town Sadie and Aiden were captured in. Some of these people definitely were innocents.

But some were complete assholes; like that man seemed to be. And Dean would make sure that he paid the price in a very...violent and bloody way.

"They're clear," the man shouted. "Vicky just found some knives in their bags but we emptied them. Come on down."

Vicky and the asshole started putting the discovered and discarded weapons into a bag of their own. If only Dean could jump into action right now and take care of the situation...

Patience. He needed to be patient. These people probably would lead them to Sadie and Aiden. They needed them alive.

The man that had been talking to them from the roof approached them and Dean could see that he wasn't much older than he and Sam himself. He didn't look particularly dangerous...in fact he looked like he used to be a harmless preppy partier type of guy. But looks could be very deceiving, especially in this world. Dean knew that all too well.

Hell, he himself was deceiving everyone here by pretending to be a human.

"So..." the man stopped a few feet away from the group of three. "Who do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

Dean narrowed his eyes. "Why don't you introduce yourself first?"

The man nodded, not seeming upset. "You're right. We're the ones that stopped you, we should talk first. I'm Chris...Chris Mitchellson. These people right here are members of our society."

"And this obviously isn't where your society lives...," Dean referred to the shabby and desolated town. "So why are you here?"

Chris wasted no time in answering. "We're looking for people like you three. Survivors. People that have fought through everything this world threw at them and came out on top. We need people that aren't going to hide away and are going to help rebuild."

Sam took a step forward but Dean held out his hand secretly, telling his brother not to go any further in case these people had other motives. He didn't stop his brother from speaking up though, knowing that Sam would probably have something important to say.

"But that doesn't explain why you were hiding in an abandoned town," Sam said, sounding genuinely confused.

"This town is close to the forest and stream that comes from the river. It's where people are bound to travel through. We visit the forest and the nearby towns looking for survivors."

Aha, so these definitely were the people that took Sadie and Aiden from the forest. Maybe not these people specifically, but they belonged to the same society.

 _It's them,_ Sam told Dean, coming to the same conclusion. _We have to go with them back to their town._

_Yeah and from his cheesy little speech, I bet they're up to no good in that town. 'Rebuilding' my ass…_

_I noticed that too, but we have to play the game._ Sam told him, and then went back to address Chris. "So you just take everyone that you run into?"

"Mostly everyone. People that tend to put up a fight, who get violent well….you know how it is…"

"So you're saying we have to go with you?" Heather spoke up, clearing her throat. "Or you'll kill us?"

"Not at all. I can tell you're good people." Chris smiled. Dean tried to see through it, but the man was either a good actor, or he was just another messenger, fooled by whoever was in charge. "You can continue on your way, but we have food, water and housing. Everything you could ask for. Isn't that what you were looking for? Tell me a bit about yourselves."

Dean watched as his brother and Heather both looked over to him, obviously trusting him with the lies they would tell this man. They came up with a story before they ventured into town and Dean went over it in his head, trying to get everything straight.

"I'm Mike, that's my cousin Rickey and his wife Heather." The brothers couldn't afford their real identify being discovered in case Eve's minions were around. It was safer going around with fake identities. "The rest of our group died, the last of them getting picked off by some really strong Croats."

Chris nodded. "I've noticed that they are changing. We believe it is some sort of mutation in the virus."

"Yeah," Dean continued. "So do we. Since we lost the rest of them, we've mainly been trying to collect more food and supplies. We lost one of our backpacks a while ago."

"And of course," Sam jumped in the conversation. "We wanted to try to find a safe place to settle down. You take too many chances travelling around and could run into areas that are infested."

Chris eyed Sam and Heather, nodding. He then turned to face Dean, as if considering something, before nodding again. "Alright, I think we can trust you. But first…we've gotta get you tested."

"Tested?" Heather squeaked out, not enjoying the sound of that.

"Yeah, for demon-syndrome."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "Demon-syndrome? What the hell?"

Chris shrugged. "The people with black eyes, we've heard everyone calling them demons. There's been a lot of them, although I haven't seen many as of late. Something must have changed these people into demons, maybe another virus. We have to check."

Dean wanted to laugh out loud. This society really thought people were changing into demons? In a way, he could understand, it wasn't like normal people knew about the supernatural. And after the Croatoan virus, they seemed to assume that the demons were part of some virus as well.

Whatever, he'd roll with it. These people probably didn't even know the proper ways to test for one.

"Andy, get the holy water," Chris called out to a man, making Dean's blood grow cold. Oh shit, they weren't as clueless as he had thought. While Dean had been building up an immunity, he wasn't sure if he could keep the liquid from causing smoke to come from his mouth when it burned him.

The man, Andy, didn't even pull anything out. He just looked down at the ground, he seemed sheepish.

"Andy come on!" Chris ordered. It was stern but not harsh, probably a good technique to get others to listen and look up to you.

"I well…I used it all on the last group." Andy ran a hand against the back of his neck nervously.

Chris looked annoyed, then surprised. "That was…that was three days ago! Why didn't you say anything?"

"I know, but…you know how Theodore would get. He'd have my ass if he found out I'd wasted it all. I didn't want to bring it up…and besides, when is the last time someone we found had demon-syndrome? It's been like...four months!"

"But what if they are!" someone spoke up, it was the man that had patted them down. Dean wanted to laugh at how scared the jerk sounded now.

"They can't be." It was the woman in the group who talked now. "They…that one has a broken arm." She pointed at Dean. "Remember whenever we shot them, they healed right up? They can't get hurt. And she has a bad scar on her collarbone, with demon-syndrome, it doesn't leave scars."

Everyone else began nodding eagerly. Even Chris looked relieved. But he was still eyeing Sam suspiciously, which had Dean's heat beating wildly. Who would have thought _Sam_ would be the one suspected of being a demon?

"My cousin isn't a demon. He has lots of scars." Dean walked over to Sam and rolled up his brother's sleeves. Sam still had cuts and scrapes from the car accident, thank goodness.

Chris smiled, seeming satisfied. "Well, that settles that then. Great! Now follow me and we'll lead you three to your new home."

* * *

Franklin, Minnesota. The town wasn't like Sam had expected.

He thought there would be people in chains, enslaved and malnourished. What he saw was a strong community with walls built around it, kids playing in the streets, people talking and laughing…

This couldn't be right.

The car they had been travelling in came to a stop about a hundred feet from the gate that had opened to let them in. Sam spared a look at his brother and Heather, who were cramped in the backseat next to him.

Dean seemed on alert, as expected. He was glaring outside as if he was also trying to look past the happy-town vibe that was being displayed. Heather looked surprised but also a little wary. Sam hoped that she wouldn't fall for what the town was trying to sell. She was smarter than that.

"Okay you three," Chris called from the front seat. "Hop out and follow me. I'll introduce you to your new home."

Inside Sam's head, he heard Dean scoff and he attempted to hold back his own discretion at the man's words and the scene around them.

They walked along a path which used to serve as the town's main street. Some people looked at the three of them with speculation, and others smiled and waved. Sam tried to keep a lookout for either Sadie or Aiden, and he knew Dean and Heather were as well.

But by the time Chris stopped at a small townhouse, Sam hadn't been able to spot them.

"This is where you'll stay. The home is pre-stocked with canned food and fresh sheets on the bed. But please, keep inside the house or your backyard. Theodore will come by tomorrow morning at ten to talk to you."

"Why can't we leave?" Dean asked gruffly.

"Theodore likes meeting with all newcomers first, but he won't be free until tomorrow. It's just a precaution. I'm sure he will accept you three just fine. Then, you'll be free to explore the town as you please."

"What, will there be someone out there guarding the place? Or are you gonna lock us in?" Dean folded his good arm across his slinged one.

"None of that." Chris smiled, showing off his perfect white teeth. "We are a very tight-knit group here. If you do leave, someone would spot you and recognize that you are not someone they were introduced to yet. They would come and report it to me. We're going to trust you not to go anywhere."

"So it's like a test?" Sam pointed out.

Chris pointed a finger at Sam. "I like you, you're smart." He turned to Dean. "And you...Theodore will like you. This is going to work out great for you three." He began to close the door. "Have a goodnight! I look forward to us being neighbors."

With that, the door clicked shut. Dean immediately jumped forward and locked it.

"Don't want any of those creepy-ass people getting in here." He turned to Sam and Heather, his green eyes wild. "What the hell was that?"

Heather shrugged. "I...I have no idea. I'm still trying to process it all."

Dean huffed at her. "Thanks so much for all your input, by the way. Cat really had your tongue, huh?"

"Hey!" She put her hands on her hips. "You told me it was best if I stayed quiet! You told me and Sam that you'd handle most of it! I didn't want to say anything to screw it all up!"

Dean smirked, eyes glistening. "I know, I was just messing with you."

Heather reached out and punched his good arm. "Jerk!"

Sam laughed at their interaction. "Hey, you can't call him that, only I get to."

Heather stared at him for a moment before she seemed to remember. "Oh yeah, that weird 'bitch and jerk' thing you guys do. I've never understood that. Must be a brother thing."

Sam shook his head fondly. "Nah, it's just a me-and-Dean thing. We're extra weird."

"I'd say so."

Sam let out a laugh with Heather while Dean just stood there, smirking. It felt good to laugh and let out some of the tension he had been feeling ever since Chris and gang showed up on the rooftops. If only the light-heartedness would last...but they had important matters to discuss.

"So...those people...," Sam began to say. "What was your impression of them?"

"Freaky and confusing." Heather shook her head. "I have no idea what to think."

"I'll tell you what to think." Dean plopped down on one of the living room recliners, kicking his legs over one of the chair's arms. "They're gullible. Doing the work of someone else.. I think Chris was too eager to jump into an important role and doesn't care, or notice, that what he's doing is wrong."

"You mean his job of collecting people for the town? He knows that it's wrong?" Sam asked. "What if he just thinks he's doing it to grow the society?"

Dean shook his head. He glanced over to the window and with a swipe of his good hand, closed all the curtains. With a sigh, he blinked and his eyes were back to black.

For some reason, Sam felt more relaxed. Not because he felt weird around Dean with his eyes green, but...he knew keeping them that way for long periods of time was uncomfortable for him. It was almost as if Sam felt relief _for_ Dean. Knowing that his brother wasn't uncomfortable had Sam feeling better as well. He wasn't sure if it was just because he cared about Dean so much or something more, a part of their connection.

He figured it didn't matter. Whatever the reason, he was glad he was attuned to his brother's emotions.

"He knows what's going on," Dean continued. "I could tell. Did you see the way he looked at you two when I said you were married? He knew it was the perfect opportunity to have people that would pop out more kids."

Sam did notice that, but he had also seen the way the guy looked at Dean. "He sure seemed eager to have you join in the town as well."

Dean nodded. "Yeah, he even said Theodore, who I assume is the leader, would love me...and who the hell has a name like Theodore nowadays?"

"It doesn't matter what his name is, all that matters is that he's probably trouble and we're going to have to meet with him tomorrow," Sam pointed out.

"Maybe he..." Heather mumbled quietly, looking at Dean. "Maybe if what you guys think is true...that these people want to populate the town...they think Dean with his attitude would fit in?"

Sam watched Dean tense up and glare at Heather. "You're saying that this Chris guy assumes I would just take a woman they throw at me and willingly impregnate her against her will?"

Heather shrugged. "Of course you wouldn't, but that must be what he thinks. Why else would he have accepted you in when I heard them say men are expendable? They don't need a man for every woman...they just need lots of women and a few willing men. It's disgusting but it's true."

"Unless..." Sam was thinking. "This Theodore is trying to set up this town to look as normal as possible, try and pair up men and women so it doesn't seem suspicious, so people stay and don't try and escape. Men are still expendable if they put up a fight, but he'd rather have one to pair up with someone."

"The town did look pretty damn normal." Dean agreed. "You're probably right Sammy. But not every woman is willing to get paired up with someone, Hell, probably very few are, so how is he making this work?"

Sam sighed, sitting down on the other armchair. "I have no idea, but I bet we'll find out tomorrow. We should get some rest before they come to drag us out tomorrow. I just hope we can get out of here safely when the time comes."

"We will," Dean said while digging through the items that remained in his duffle. "We will get out, rescue Sadie and Aiden, and I'll kill anyone that I see fit." He then pulled out the Western-themed action book that Sam had grabbed for him back during their rescue mission to get Carl and Ellen, and began reading.

Uhh okay. Dean could gladly transition from talking about murdering people to gleefully reading his book like it was nothing.

Heather raised an eyebrow at Dean, before shaking her head with a small smile. "Well, I guess I'll grab one of the bedrooms. Goodnight."

Sam wished her goodnight while Dean mumbled something about 'having to share a bed with Sam again' before continuing to read his book.

But Sam could tell his heart wasn't in it. Dean's posture was tense and he continued to stare at the same page for two minutes. Despite Sam's teasing, he was well aware that his brother did like to read, and he was a fast reader as well. There was no way he'd be on the same page for that long.

"Are you gonna just sit there and stare at me or are you gonna find something useful to do with your time?" Dean asked, never looking away from his book.

"I...I just thought we could talk."

To Sam's surprise, Dean put the book down at looked over at Sam. "Okay, sure."

Caught off guard, Sam stumbled for a moment before finally getting it out. "I just...I can tell you're stressed here because of what these people might be doing...and what happened to you in Hell..."

Sam knew it was the wrong thing to say when Dean slapped his head with his palm and groaned. "Oh for god's sake Sam! Why does everything we have to talk about have to be serious and depressing? I thought you honestly wanted to talk. You know? Like just talk with me, like brothers do. Not try and interrogate me."

"I wasn't trying to Dean. I'm just concerned and want you to know you can come to me if you need to..."

Dean sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I get it Sammy. I do. I am stressed, okay? But talking about it won't make me less stressed. I'm okay. I just..." He stopped for a moment, biting his lip. He seemed to be fighting whether or not he should say what he wanted to say next.

Sam stared at him and gave him his best puppy dog look. It wasn't to manipulate his brother, but just to show him that he really did care and could tell him anything.

Dean let out a breath and said his next bit quickly. "I just need my brother okay? That's all I need. Not talking about Hell. Just my brother being my brother. I know with the shit that's happened, you've been worried and even I can appreciate that. But we need to get back to being us. I fucking miss that okay?"

Oh. Sam swallowed, finding it difficult to speak suddenly. But maybe he didn't have to say much at all. He wanted that too, and he missed it as well. Dean wasn't purposely trying to ignore the subject, it was just that talking about it honestly didn't help him much.

Sam remembered seeing a deck of cards when they walked into the house, sitting on top of the fireplace ledge. He walked over and grabbed them, turning back to his brother.

When he turned back, he saw that Dean was looking down at his lap, gritting his teeth. He thought...he had honestly thought Sam had been getting up to walk away from him, that Sam was upset with him.

Quickly wanting to fix things, Sam walked over to his brother and dropped the deck of cards in his lap.

"You're right." He cleared his throat, trying to attempt at a lighthearted tone. "We need some brother time. Think you can beat me this time?"

Dean looked up, seeming confused for a second before realizing that Sam hadn't stepped away to ignore him. He then grinned brightly and cracked open the pack of cards and began shuffling with an expertise that came from years of practice. It was stiff because of the limited movement he could do with his left arm in a sling, but still much better than Sam could ever shuffle.

"When have you ever beat me?"

"Last time we played, back when we were still staying at Bobby's before it burned down. We did best of three and I beat you twice."

"Pssh, I let you win. That was after we had a bad run into town and saw some people die, I was trying to make you feel better."

"Uh huh, sure you were." Sam grabbed the deck of cards and stood up. "You may be the master of all card games, but I _did_ learn from you."

They headed to the free bedroom, both of them happy that Heather had left them the room with the king bed so they could at least have their space while they slept.

Sitting cross legged on the bed, they played various card games for over two hours. Both of them laughing and talking about old times, trying to ignore the situation they were in and not focus on the fate of their friends. They really did need to just let loose and have a little fun, just hang out. Sam hadn't even noticed the tension that had been building up inside him until it was released.

It was important for them to remember to still be brothers, no matter what they were going through.

"You think we'll ever find a place?" Dean asked suddenly.

They were lying down after playing their card games, Dean having won...only by one game. It was late, and Sam had assumed his brother had fallen asleep.

It seemed he may be just as lost in his thoughts as Sam was himself.

"Of course we will," Sam told him, turning to face Dean, only to see him staring straight ahead at the ceiling. "In the mountains, remember?"

"You think we'll be able to find something hidden enough though? Where no one can get us?" Dean's tone was mostly casual, but Sam could tell he was worried.

"Yeah. We'll keep looking until we do. After we get out of here, it's only a matter of time before Bobby realizes he can contact you with that blood-bowl thing. And we'll all go together and search dirt roads through the mountains until we find something."

Sam caught Dean's nod and after a few moments of silence, he assumed the conversation was over. He began to say goodnight when his brother spoke up.

"We're gonna build a society," Dean said, his voice stern, as if declaring something. "And it's not gonna be anything like this one. It's gonna be safe and fair and it's gonna work out."

Sam smiled. Dean may not want to talk about this town and what it stood for and the memories it brought back for him, but this was his way of letting Sam know he wouldn't accept anything like it.

"I know. We will Dean. We'll make sure of it. And we'll do it together."

* * *

"Wake up sleepyheads!"

Dean groaned at Heather's annoying voice, also hearing his brother do the same. He glanced over and saw Sam lying on his stomach, placing a pillow over his head to block out the noise.

Well, that was one thing they had in common. They did NOT like to be rudely awakened.

"Go away Heather," Dean grumbled, shoving his face into his pillow.

"Comeon'...it's 8:30...they said we have to be ready at 10. Don't you guys want to take an actual shower? It works here! I'm already finished so you both can take a long one...don't you want to stand under the warm water..."

Dean sat up, turned around, and held out his hand. Heather went sliding out of the room with a shocked squeal and the door shut behind her.

"Alright!" she called out from the other side, laughing. "Don't come crying to me when you guys aren't ready!"

Dean sighed and stretched. He reached over and whacked his brother on the head. "Come on Sammy, she's right. This is serious and we can't lie around all day. Gotta get ready."

Sam groaned, flipping over and rubbing his eyes. "Ughh, shouldn't have stayed up all night playing cards."

"Dude, we got like…what…seven hours of sleep? That's more than enough."

"Not after we were walking around all day in the wilderness, trying to survive. We're exerting a lot more energy."

Dean smirked. " _You_ are. I'm not."

The younger brother grabbed his pillow and chucked it at Dean's face. "Shut up, that's not fair."

"I'd say it's a fair exchange for going to Hell for eighty years."

"Okay, if you want to make stupid comments, I get to take the first shower." Sam stood up, grabbing his duffle.

"Fine." Dean shrugged, laughing at the way Sam pouted. "Just don't take a half an hour washing that girly mop like you usually do."

Sam flipped him off before leaving the room and storming into the bathroom.

Chuckling, Dean almost decided to lay back down for a little bit before he realized it would just be even harder to get up. Might as well start the day and get going. Maybe this house had some good food stored in it…

He padded into the kitchen and saw Heather sitting at the table, looking through a newspaper. He raised his eyebrow when he looked up at him.

"They make their own newspapers here? Why waste the resources and time doing that?" he asked.

Heather shook her head, handing the paper to him. "No, there was this stack of them over by the chair." She pointed to the recliner in the living room. "It's kinda creepy. They just keep old newspapers from back before society completely fell."

Dean squinted at the paper, which he now noticed was beginning to brown. It was called the Marshall Independent, which Dean knew from looking at the maps that Marshall was the closest 'bigger town' in the area. The date was June 24th, 2010. The virus had broken out a month before, but obviously there had still been newspapers printed for a short while after that. This must have been one of the last ones, because Dean couldn't remember many newscasts or new radio alerts into July.

"It's like they want to keep some sense of a normal life," Dean said as he casually flipped through the pages. It was a lot shorter than regular newspapers and there weren't really articles, just pages upon pages about the virus and where to stay safe. There were a few extra sections about when the movie theatres might open again or what would happen to the NFL, probably just quickly written to calm down the citizens. "Or they want whatever newcomers they place into this house to be comforted by it or something. But yeah, it _is_ pretty damn creepy. Like they're trying too hard."

"You think we can get out of here quickly?" Heather asked. "Because I want to leave as soon as possible."

"If it were my choice I'd just go on a rampage, kill a bunch of people, grab Sadie and Aiden and run out. But apparently that's bad." Dean rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on, you wouldn't want to kill a bunch of people when you know some are innocent. Don't try and act up all tough so it doesn't damage your demonic ego."

Dean was left flustered for a moment. "He...hey!"

Heather grinned. "See, I knew I was right."

"I'm still going to kill some assholes." Dean crossed his good arm over his chest. Just because he didn't want to kill innocent people didn't mean he was going to stop for killing the ones that were a threat.

"I know. But we have to make sure they deserve it. Go eat some breakfast, maybe then you won't be so grumpy."

Dean flipped her off and headed to the kitchen. There he found homemade bread and butter, eggs in the fridge and even some milk in a jug. What did they do, have this house always stocked up for newcomers? He knew Chris had told them there would be cans of food, but they even kept fresh milk and eggs? They were really trying to win over the people they accepted in.

If he was human, he'd probably resist eating the food that these bastards gave them. But hey, food was food. And Dean wasn't going to miss an opportunity to eat.

He had just fried up some eggs for himself and Sam and shoved a piece of bread in his mouth when Heather called for him, her tone was that of panic.

"What?" he tried to mumble between the food in his mouth, walking over to where she stood by the window, peering outside.

"Look!" Heather grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to the window. She pointed over to where a bearded man was walking with a group of boys. He looked to be in his late 50's, the dark hair in beard mixed with gray.

Dean swallowed his bite of food. "Okay, so?"

"So? Look harder! It's Aiden!"

Dean shoved Heather out of the way so he could get a better view. One of those young boys _was_ Aiden. The kid looked scared out of his mind, looking around him like he was searching for something, or someone.

Shit.

"What's going on?"

Dean turned around to see Sam, fresh out of his never-ending shower with a change of clothes, running a towel through his wet hair.

"Get your ass over here and look. Heather found Aiden."

Sam rushed over to join Dean, worry written all over his face. When he spotted Aiden, he seemed relieved. At first Dean was confused by his brother's reaction before he suddenly understood. Aiden was probably in some sort of danger, but at least he was alive. There could have been a chance of these people killing him, but for right now, he was okay.

"Where are they taking him?" Sam asked, looking at Dean and Heather desperately.

"We don't know." Heather shrugged sadly. "I was just looking outside and happened to see that man walking with those boys. I have no idea where they are going."

"The only thing we can do Sammy, is meet this Theodore and try and see if we can figure out what the hell is going on." Dean clapped Sam on the shoulder, remembering his promise to himself to show Sam more affection. "You eat, I'm gonna get in the shower. No use in worrying until we find out more."

Dean was almost in the bathroom, but he still heard Sam's whispered words.

"I just hope we won't be too late."

* * *

Exactly at ten o' clock, a knock came at the front door. Dean glared at it, wishing nothing more than being able to shoot a bullet right through it and get Theodore right in the head.

He shouldn't be so eager, it's what Sam would say. He didn't know this man and maybe he wasn't as bad as Dean thought. But he just knew...he knew this town wasn't run right. He could feel it. And this man was the leader. He deserved to die.

Relax and focus. That was what he had to do. He thought back to last night, of playing card games with Sam and just chatting, having fun. It helped calm him down.

Sam walked over to the door, hand on the knob. He looked at Dean, as if questioning if he was ready.

Dean nodded once. They didn't even need the telepathy at times.

The door opened and standing there was...

Standing in the doorway, grinning, was the man that had been leading Aiden and the other boys.

"Hello. And welcome to Franklin. I'm Theodore, the mayor of this town." He held out his hand to shake.

 _Dean..._ Sam's anxious voice entered Dean's thoughts.

 _Yeah. The Bearded Wonder is Theodore. Just great. If the leader of this place has Aiden, who knows what he's planning with the kids._ Dean noticed how Sam didn't reach out yet to take the guy's hand. _Sam. Shake his hand. Hurry. Before he gets suspicious._

Sam reached out and shook the man's hand, putting on a smile that Dean thought was pretty damn convincing.

"I'm Rickey," Sam said. He walked over to Heather and put an arm around her shoulders. "This is my wife Heather, and this..." He took the few steps toward Dean and squeezed him on the shoulder. "Is my cousin Mike."

Good. Sam got the names right. But still, it did little to calm the anger he was feeling when looking at this man. He could just kill him right now...

"Nice to meet you all." Theodore looked them up and down in a way that unnerved Dean. He saw a look similar to that before...he just couldn't put his finger on when or where.

Dean watched how the man finished sizing them up and then nodded, seeming pleased. "How about I show you the town and explain our way of living?" His tone was even lighter than it was before. He stepped outside, gesturing for the group of three to follow.

Dean took the lead, following behind Theodore and the man gave him a pleased smile. Okay, this was weird. He wished he just knew what all these little mannerisms meant.

Or maybe he was just overthinking and picking everything apart?

"Your way of living...about that..." Dean cleared his throat, not bothering to hold all the doubt out of his voice. "You were the mayor of this town before all the shit went down?"

Bearded Wonder clucked his tongue and shook his head. "Nope. I was their savior. Came over here pretty early on, saw people were still here, trying to survive, and took charge. I helped build them up to what they are today."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "And how did you help them do that?"

"They were lost, confused and weak." Theodore waved his hands dramatically. "They needed a leader, and that's what I became. I gave them direction. Purpose. We all came together in order to rebuild the world."

 _Maybe he's not dangerous._ Sam suddenly sent out his thoughts to Dean. _Maybe he's just….really weird._

 _He_ is _a fuckin' weirdo. But I'm not gonna assume that's all he is so soon. We'll find out. Just let me ask the questions._

Dean snapped out of his thoughts and spoke to the back of Theodore's head as they walked toward the center of town. "You're going to rebuild the world…here? In the middle of nowhere-land America? You're kidding me, right?"

Theodore didn't seem angry as he stopped and turned around to face Dean. "Every civilization has to start somewhere, am I right? Why not start here? In a small town where dangerous criminals wouldn't think to travel to and Croats are less likely to roam. Once we're stable here, we can continue to spread our people outward."

Yeah, sure. Dean didn't buy it at all. But he had to pretend like he did. "Alright, that makes sense. So you have that home set up for when you bring in any newcomers you can trust?"

"Exactly," Theodore said cheerfully, continuing to walk. "We place them there until I can talk to them, then we will get you situated in your new homes and give you jobs. This…" He gestured to the small houses on either side of him. "…is where we all reside. Just down the street is the downtown area, let me show you more."

* * *

Theodore showed them around the small downtown area. The town wasn't anything special, mostly older townhomes and buildings that looked like they could have been in a western. But it wasn't like Dean was expecting much. It was a small farm town in the middle of nowhere, but these people were making it work. The place was thriving and people walked about smiling and laughing.

He would be really disappointed if his perceptions about this town were wrong. He was really looking forward to taking out some jackasses. But still, Dean was confident that this was all a cover, or that the people really were clueless and this Theodore was playing them all.

They were led into the town hall and Theodore served them some coffee which Dean snapped up and took a sip of first. If it were poisoned, he wouldn't be affected, but he'd be able to tell.

The coffee was fine, so he gave a quick nod to Sam and Heather when no one was looking. They sat around for a few minutes while Sam jumped into the conversation to make small talk with Bearded Wonder. Thank goodness for his brother's specialty in being able to converse with anyone, or else the conversation may have gotten awkward and suspicious with Dean's blunt questions.

"Now," Theodore spoke up when they finished their coffee. "I would like to have private meetings with you all."

Dean sat up straighter. Now this could either be interesting...or dangerous. There had to be some reason why he wanted to get them all separately.

Theodore looked over at Sam and Heather. "You two are married, so you are joined as one. I will meet with you two first in my office and then speak to your cousin."

"Why even do this when you could just chat it up with us like you have been doing?" Dean couldn't help but ask.

Of course, the man didn't seem irritated at all, he even smiled at Dean's question. What was with these people and being overly polite?

"It's just for extra precaution. I will sit you down in separate meetings and ask you the same questions to see if your stories match up. It's required for any groups we send in." The man stood up and gestured for Sam and Heather to follow.

Before they reached the office door, Sam turned around to look at Dean, probably to gauge his reaction.

_You be careful in there and fill me in. If you make up anything new about our story, let me know._

_Okay._ Sam said. _Don't worry, I'll be fine._

Dean was left in the lobby with only a two of Theodore's assistants standing awkwardly on either side of the room. He sighed and kicked his feet up on the table, smirking when the both of them cringed at the action. He was reminded of being in Crowley's mansion with his servants.

He grabbed one of the magazines that were placed on the table and pretended to flip through it. His head was starting to ache a bit from keeping his eyes human, but he ignored it. He had to fight through it and build up the amount of time he kept his eyes this way. He may need to do it for days at a time depending on a situation they were in.

After five minutes, he finally heard Sam's thoughts come through.

_Dean, you were right. At first, it was normal, he asked us where we came from and where we were heading towards, stuff like that. Then he...he asked us if we planned to conceive, that he wants to build up the population in order to rebuild the world._

_Knew it._ Dean told him. _Asshole requires every woman to spit out kids, right?_

_Yeah, he's trying to act nice about it, but basically said it's a requirement to stay here. Wait...hang on...I think he's almost done talking with us._

Dean clenched his jaw and tried to control the anger that wanted to well up in his expression. He wasn't sure that he could play along in the meeting and hold back from ripping out the man's throat.

A few minutes later, Sam and Heather came walking out of the office, Sam being better at holding back his emotions than Heather, who looked sick to her stomach. Sam had an arm around her waist, either to support her or keep up the husband and wife act.

Theodore motioned for Dean to join him. He stood up, looking over at Sam before he started walking.

 _You okay?_ he asked. If that man had threatened his brother…

_We're fine, just kinda creeped out. You'll probably get the same feeling._

Theodore smiled at Dean as he entered the office room. Looking around, he saw that nothing in the room seemed to have changed from before the infection spread. There was no personalization to anything inside. It was all very generic.. For someone that acted overly friendly and happy, Dean found it kind of odd that Theodore wouldn't make it more homey for himself.

"Have a seat Mike." Theodore gestured toward the chair and Dean almost hesitated, nearly forgetting that he was going by a false name. He recovered quickly, plopping down in the chair and folding his arms.

"Okay, so what's this about?" He asked. "What do you have to ask me?"

Bearded Wonder sat down at his desk, his hands folded on top of it. "Just some simple questions to make sure you all are who you've been saying you are. First, tell me where you were from before the outbreak, and where you were travelling to."

This was something they had been expecting they'd be asked, and had already come up with a story. "We were from Nebraska, near Norfolk, headed up to Canada." Dean tried to make his answer sound casual, not wanting to overshare or else his response would seem false.

Theodore nodded. "And why didn't you just go directly north into the Dakotas? Why cross over to Minnesota?"

Dean shrugged. "Well Sioux Falls was overrun. Seemed like there was a lot of activity in South Dakota and we were afraid that the whole state might be that way. So we came over here. It's a little better."

"And your group? How many others were there? What happened to them?" Theodore asked.

"Four more. Lost them in Sioux Falls. Big Croat attack, broke my arm trying to fight them off but the three of us were able to get away."

Theodore seemed pleased by Dean's answer, but was staring at his arm with curiosity. "Would you mind if I took a look at your arm?"

Dean eyed him warily. What the hell? He wanted to cuss this man out and tell him to shove his weird attitude up his ass. "Why?" He asked instead.

"Just want to make sure you're telling the truth."

"Fine. Go right ahead."

The man walked over and Dean removed the sling, carefully unwrapping the bandages. The areas where the bone had snapped through his skin were still bruised and tender.

Theodore tsked and shook his head. "Go ahead and rewrap it. That doesn't look good. Broke in two places? A Croat did that?"

"There were a few of them that latched on in the scuffle. They were the stronger ones we've been noticing."

"Ah, yes. And the fact that you managed to get away says good things about your durability. Although that arm may not heal completely." He shook his head, almost seeming as if he were examining Dean like he was a specimen.

Okay…that was weird. He understood why Heather and Sam were freaked out. Theodore wasn't looking at them as individuals...it was... Dean's blood went cold as he finally remembered who Theodore was reminding him of. All these little looks and mannerisms reminded him of how Alastair stared at him...how he stared at his souls on the rack.

But why was this man looking at him this way? What did that mean? What did he have in store for everyone here?

"I'll manage just fine." Dean told the man, his voice stern. "A screwed up arm isn't going to keep me from fighting and surviving."

Theodore looked thoughtful for a while before nodding. "Good. I can see you're a tough one." He leaned back in his chair, staring in a way that even made Dean uncomfortable. Dean was the one that should make others feel uneasy, not the other way around! He didn't like this, not at all.

Dean wondered if the reason he felt this way was because him getting soft, or if it was the way Theodore conducted himself, the way he reminded him of Alastair. It was probably a combination of both. Yeah, he knew he had gotten soft, way more than any other demon, but not enough to the point where he felt intimidated by other people.

Theodore wasn't Alastair, he wasn't a demon. He was just some creepy guy. So why should Dean feel afraid?

"Alright…" Dean said, somewhat awkwardly. "Then I'm gonna leave now."

Before he could stand up, Bearded Wonder spoke up. "Listen, Mike. I'm going to be honest with you."

His interest peaked, Dean forgot his desire to leave the room and focused in. "I'm listening." Maybe he would finally get some real hints on what was up with this guy and the town in general.

"Usually, I don't take in wounded survivors. We are trying to build up a strong community. But I can tell you were the leader of your group. You're strong. You have something the other two don't."

Dean raised an eyebrow, trying not to let his anger show at the fact that Theodore gave his brother a backhanded insult. "Are you saying you're not going to let any of us stay?"

The older man shook his head. "Not at all. While your cousin and his wife may lack a certain spark, they survived this long. And well, they are married and said they were looking forward to have kids somewhere where they could grow up to be safe. Our mission here is like I said, to rebuild. And we can't do that without expanding the population."

"You require everyone to reproduce then?" Bingo. Just what they all had thought.

"Essentially. For the most part, everyone agrees and plays their part. All of the men here, we are all paired up with a respective partner. We do have some that are reluctant to our ways, however."

"So basically, you force pairs and require them to have babies? That's what you're saying?"

Theodore nodded once. "Exactly. What do you think about that, let me know your thoughts."

Dean wanted to tell the man that his laws were repulsive. He wished he could lunge over and begin carving Theodore up piece by piece then make him eat his own insides before he slowly died. But instead, he put on a smile.

"I think that you know what the hell you're doing."

"Perfect. I thought you'd agree. Now, as I stated, while I would usually not accept an injured person, I love your attitude. I think you'd be the perfect fit for our new citizen. We tried fixing her up with someone else but well, she…seems to be quite the handful."

New citizen...he was pairing Dean up with Sadie. It had to be. What had happened to her the first time she had been matched up? What had gone wrong?

Theodore leaned forward on his desk and Dean wasn't sure if he imagined the feral glint in his eyes. "I'm glad we caught you Mike, you're going to fit right in."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you thought in a review!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm terribly sorry for the long delay. I have a lot going on right now with work and other issues in real life. I never meant for it to take so long. With having little time to write, and this chapter kicking my butt more than I thought it would, time flew by and before I knew it, I was a few months without an update. But now I'm in the middle of a vacation, things are settling down and the chapter is complete.
> 
> I hope there's some of you out there still reading. To make up for it, this chapter is 11,000 words long. I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Extra thanks to Gabi for not only her grat beta work, but for helping me out with the scene that nearly drove me crazy!

This had to be one of the weirdest things Sam had ever experienced. And with the life he had lived...that was saying something.

Theodore had taken the brothers and Heather to the center of the town where all the citizens had gathered. Apparently, yesterday the guy had called for a meeting to take place at noon to introduce the newcomers.

Theodore put on the whole act, even standing behind a podium. He had very good people skills, but there was always something slightly off about him that bordered on creepy. He was charismatic and overly friendly. It confused the younger Winchester. Why put on such a happy act when he was basically forcing people to reproduce and in some cases, probably encouraging rape? How did these people not rebel against his actions?

Did they really fall for his friendly ways and go along with his wishes because they thought he had good intentions? Did that really overpower the fact that what he was doing was wrong and inhumane?

They needed to figure out what was really going on.

This meeting should have been the perfect opportunity to gather some information from the locals. After Theodore's speech, he had the citizens mingle with the three newcomers. Sam would have thought he could have gotten some insight by starting conversations with them.

But each person that came up to greet him kept it very short. They said hello, introduced themselves, and gave him a gift of some sort, mostly food. There wasn't enough time to even get one question in.

On top of that, Theodore was watching. He never left the area.

The greetings didn't last more than a half an hour, and by the end, all of them had so many gifts gathered around them, it would take multiple trips to bring it all back to the house.

Before Sam could turn to talk to his brother, who he could tell was getting very agitated and tense with being surrounded by so many strangers, Theodore appeared next to them.

"Don't worry about all that." He gestured to the food, obviously knowing what they had all been thinking. "I will ask a few volunteers to place the belongings in your new homes."

"Home _s_?" Dean asked, emphasizing the 's'. His brother was hiding it well, but Sam could tell he was close to his breaking point.

"Yes of course!" Theodore beamed. "I can tell you are close to your cousin, but of course you need some space, and also your own room to build your own families. But don't worry, I have situated your location so your homes will be next door to each other. I want you all to be happy."

_Fucking asshole, we better get to the bottom of this fast before I can't restrain myself from murdering him._

Sam understood Dean's frustration. Neither of them were comfortable with being separated. Along with all the confusion and the anger at how Theodore ran this town, being apart was going to test Dean's limits even more.

 _It's okay. We'll just stay in touch, let each other know what's going on._ Sam tried to reassure his brother the best that he could.

Dean didn't seem to relax much. He turned to Theodore. "So, where's this new wife of mine?"

"Someone's eager!" Theodore grinned and patted Dean on the shoulder. Sam focused in and could see Dean's demon soul spark angrily at the gesture. His brother was hardly able to restrain himself, yet, by looking at him, you'd never know.

"Don't you worry!" the man continued. "I will give you all some time to relax in the temporary home before you will be escorted to your new ones. After that, I'll bring you your new lady, Mike. I'm sure you'll be able to handle her much better than the last man who tried."

If Dean's soul had been angry before, it was nearly out of control now. This time, Sam could see a flicker of rage pass over his face for just a split second, something that Theodore completely missed.

"Oh, I'm sure I will." Dean faked a smile and then bared his teeth as soon as Theodore turned around.

 _Just let me kill him..._ Dean wasn't looking at Sam as he sent his thoughts out.

_You know we can't. We have to find Aiden first and he still has to hand over Sadie to you. Theodore probably has followers that could go after us as soon as they see he's dead. We have to be smart about this._

Dean looked at him then, his gaze was dark but Sam could tell he understood.

 _But when it comes time..._ Dean warned.

 _I know, you're gonna end him. And anyone else that follows him._ Sam paused before sending out his next thought. _And Dean?_

_Yeah?_

_I'm not saying torture, you know you can't resort to that. But...make him suffer._

_Oh, you won't have to worry about that Sammy._

* * *

When they got back to the guest house, Dean filled Heather in on everything he had found out in his earlier conversation with Theodore. He almost forgot that she didn't have a clue because she had been right there when he was discussing this with Sam, only he had been using the telepathy. The private conversations were helpful, but he didn't enjoy re-explaining everything again.

"Are you sure it's Sadie that he's going to give to you?" Heather asked him, pacing the living room.

"He said a feisty girl who showed up the other day. Both those things point to Sadie."

"How is she going to be able to hold back her surprise when she sees you though?" Heather added. "I mean...he's going to expect her to be terrified, handing her over to another man who is apparently worse than the first. And then she sees you..."

"Heather's right," Sam nodded. "She'll be relieved, happy. They'll know something is up."

Dean shrugged. "Sadie's a smart girl, she'll know to put on an act quickly. They'll probably be in front of her, dragging her in, they won't catch her expression."

"But they might notice her body language," Sam pointed out. "If she visibly relaxes once she sees you..."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you then Sammy. We can't prevent it. If they noticed and then start trying to attack us or whatever, I'll just have to kill them."

Sam sighed. "Okay."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "Okay? I was expecting you to put up some kind of fight about it."

"Whoever is bringing her in, they're bad people. They need to die." Sam looked him in the eyes. "It's better if it happens after we know where Aiden is and we have time to plan, but if it has to happen earlier...then it has to happen...and we'll work from there."

"But when they do give you Sadie, what do we do then?" Heather asked.

"We try to fit in until we find out where Aiden is and how to get him to us safely," Sam told her. "Then we..."

"Then we murder anyone that gets in our way."

"Yeah..." Sam said. His agreement shocked Dean. "If these people agree with this way of life and are trying to defend it...they're monsters and they'll keep doing it. We can't let them."

Heather looked uncomfortable but she nodded. "Yeah. There's no police anymore. We'll have to."

"You gotta change if you wanna survive," Dean told her. "But just enough...not too much...like they have." He gestured around him, referring to the town. "So get ready. When we're out in town, we gotta scope out possible weapons we can use, an escape route...shit like that. Don't let your guard down and don't trust anyone."

"We won't," Sam assured him. "And you better do the same. I don't like that you're going to be in another house. I know there's less risk of something happening to you, but still...be safe Dean."

Dean waved his good hand in an attempt to brush off the worried comment. "You know I always am. Now, who's up for some card games before the asshole comes to take us away?"

* * *

"Welcome to your new home Mike."

Dean stepped into the small townhome, immediately looking around for Sadie.

"Where's the girl?" he asked, making his voice sound as careless as possible. "She in the bedroom?"

Theodore chuckled, stepping inside the house. This was weird. He didn't go inside with Sam and Heather, only dropped them off.

"She's coming, she's coming. Don't you worry." He closed the door and walked further in, sitting down in one of the recliners. "I want to talk to you about a few things first." Crossing his legs, he pointed to the recliner opposite of him. "Sit."

Dean didn't bother to hide his raised eyebrow, but sat down anyway. "What's this about?"

"Just some information I need to share with you, that's all, no big deal." The man leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "Your cousin and his wife? They'll fit in playing the part just fine. But you..."

"But I _what_?"

"You're different!" Theodore said gleefully. "I can tell. You're not going to play perfect husband, and that girl isn't going to participate willingly either."

"Then why keep her?"

"You know why. We need babies, we need to repopulate the world. We use the unwilling, but the townspeople can't see how unhappy they are."

"I'm sure they have an idea." Dean wasn't afraid to point it out to him. Anyone would assume this.

"Of course they do. But they're ignorant. They just want a place to stay where they can be protected and live out their lives. As long as they don't see what's going on, they don't care." Theodore's smile was smug.

"So you're telling me to make sure she doesn't get out and start creating mayhem in town, basically?" Dean asked. So this is what they did...kept the unwilling people locked up so they could still be used to create babies...and also wouldn't disturb the fake peaceful atmosphere that Theodore created.

"Until you break her in and have her become docile, yes. I just wanted you to be clear on what this town is all about. I don't need people panicking if they find out what is going on behind some closed doors, if you know what I mean."

It took everything in Dean's willpower not to rip the man's eyeballs out of his sockets. He wanted Dean to...what? Brainwash Sadie? Use her so much that she would become a mindless shell that wouldn't rebel?

"Can I trust you on this Mike? You'll be able to handle her?"

Dean set back his rage just enough in order to answer. "Of course. It'll be a piece of cake."

"Alright then! Great!" He clapped Dean on the shoulder and stood up. "The sooner she's pregnant the better, so get on that."

Wait a minute...babies were their main goal...but what about the men that were just using the women and didn't want to keep the kids? Where did those kids end up? Could that be where Aiden was?

Dean saw the opportunity for what it was and risked asking. "Now...I'll go along with your plan to repopulate no problem. But you're right that I am different. I don't want any kids I have to bother raising. What would happen after she gives birth if she doesn't want to take care of it?"

Theodore paused at the door. "Oh, that happens a lot. Don't you worry. Even some of the nice happy couples don't want kids, but they get pregnant for the good of the world. The ones that people don't want...I take in the boys and Dixie takes in the girls to mentor. You have nothing to worry about Mike."

"Okay, well great." So Aiden was being watched over by Theodore, but where were the kids staying? Unfortunately, asking that would be too risky.

Opening the door Theodore waved to someone. "Bring her in!" he hollered, before leaving.

Two men dragged a struggling Sadie by each arm. Dean wasn't sure if he should be relieved or disturbed by the fact that she was blindfolded and gagged. At least she wouldn't have to hide her surprise.

"Grab onto her!" one of the men yelled to Dean. "She's a fighter, gonna be a challenge. Good luck with that one."

Dean grabbed onto her arm with his good hand and she immediately started struggling more, which did nothing against his strength.

The other man walked in and placed a key on the table...a key to handcuffs that tied Sadie's hands behind her back.

Now Dean understood why there was a strict curfew. Shit like this took place at night.

"Alright, let me have my fun...go." Dean nearly growled at the men. At first, he thought he may have come off too harsh, but the men just chuckled and walked away.

It disgusted him what type of man they thought he was.

Dean let go of Sadie and shut and locked the door. Instantly, she ran into him, trying to head butt him in the chin, but because of the blindfold her aim was off.

Well, it looked like she was so scared that she didn't even recognize his voice when he spoke.

"Alright, alright! Relax! It's me, you're safe."

Sadie didn't hear him. She was in such a panic that she wildly kicked out with her legs, not caring what she hit.

"Hey!" Dean growled as she almost hit him.

She screamed into the gag and, locating him by the sound of his voice, lashed out with all the force she had, kicking him against his shin.

"Ow!" Dean cried out. The pain was sharp but faded almost instantly. Still, he wasn't going to put up with this anymore. He could understand why Sadie acted this way but now he had enough of it. He reached out with his powers and swiped her off her feet. With a quick step he approached her to prevent her from falling.

"Listen to me, Sadie," he yelled to get through to her, when he cradled her in his arms. "It's me, it's Dean. You're safe."

Sadie froze and Dean reached over to untie the cloth gag around her mouth, not missing the way she flinched at the contact.

"It's...is it really...," she spoke, her voice hoarse and wavering.

"Don't punch me," Dean cut her off when he went to unlock the cuffs. He then reached over and untied the blindfold. "See? It's me."

Sadie blinked a few times to adjust to the light before she focused on Dean. "Dean?" Her voice took on a tone of relief before she suddenly started shaking her head. "No...no! You're not him!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dean reached over to grab her arm but she quickly backed away.

"Stay away from me! You people...what are you? How did you know I knew him? Bringing in one of those shape-shifting things to look like him!"

"Sadie, damnit, I'm not a shapeshifter! It's me!" What the hell was going on in her mind?

"He's a demon you dumbasses! You can't fake that!"

Dean remained confused, looking around for something he could use to prove this was him. He caught his reflection in the glass of a picture frame and it suddenly dawned on him.

His eyes were green. She had never seen his human shade. She thought he was some imposter.

"Hey." Dean calmed his voice down and went in for his signature smirk. "I never had to try switching my eyes back until now. Gotta fit in to save your ass right?" He flicked his eyes back to their natural black, feeling more at ease instantly.

It seemed to have the same affect on Sadie, who's entire body sagged and she began shaking, but this time, with obvious relief. "Dean..."

A second later, she was practically on top of him, hugging him so tightly she could give Sam a run for his money.

"Whoa, whoa, hey, calm down. I'm not even good at this touchy feely stuff with Sam, and with you..."

"Dean?" Sadie asked quietly.

Dean could feel wetness on his shirt where her face was buried against his chest. "Yeah?"

"Shut up, just for a minute. Please?"

"Uh...yeah. Okay."

Dean stood there awkwardly as Sadie clung to him, crying. It was silent for the most part, with her breath hitching now and then. He was glad she wasn't full-out sobbing, because he really didn't know what he would do in that case.

Awkwardly patting her back with his good arm, he decided to let her ride it out. Hell, even he broke down that one time in dream-world with Sam. From what he could make out from those weird emotions he experienced, he just needed to let it out and then he somehow felt better.

Emotions were confusing. Especially when you were a demon that could feel them, but not quite understand them.

Although after five minutes of her not letting go, Dean wasn't sure how much more he could handle. He cleared his throat.

"Uhhh...ummm..."

Sadie lifted her head away from his chest, her eyes were rimmed red. Now that he got a closer look at her, he saw that she had a view bruises on her face, and her lip was split.

"What?" she asked.

"Uhh...was gonna ask if you're okay. But, well...that's stupid. Of course you're not. So yeah...whatever," he finished lamely. If only Sammy had played his part...he'd be better comforting Sadie. But he was sure Sam wouldn't have passed as the type of asshole that would beat women and control them. Even if he could have, Dean wouldn't have wanted to put his brother through the stress of playing the part.

Sadie actually smiled a bit. "It's okay, Dean. Well, it's not...but there's nothing you have to worry about. I just...I need someone okay? I just need you to be here."

"Well..." Dean held his good arm out in display. "Here I am."

Sadie laughed, but seconds later tears pooled in her eyes.

Oh shit. "What? What, did I do something wrong?" What the hell was he supposed to do? Did she expect some encouraging words? Was he being an asshole? He had no idea what was going on.

"No." Sadie sniffed, offering him a sad smile. "I just missed you, that's all."

"You...missed _me_?" Dean asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes!" Sadie rubbed at her eyes. "I missed you and your stupid humor and your bad attitude. Give yourself more credit, you're kinda a decent friend."

Huh? Taken aback for a moment, Dean was sure she was lying and was only glad to see someone she knew. But the look she was giving him...and how she was staring right into his black eyes with what couldn't be mistaken for anything other than trust...well maybe she did mean it.

Quickly trying to recover from his shock, Dean stood up straighter, smiling smugly. "Well yeah. I'm damn awesome."

"Yeah, you kind of are." She looked around the room. "Where's Sam? Is he okay? Did you come here alone?"

"Sammy's fine. Don't you think I'd be a massive ball of rage if he weren't? We met up with Heather and Allen and formed a plan to get in here pretending we're other people. Allen's out in the forest still guarding our stuff."

"Well, I bet you weren't pleased to see him."

Dean shrugged. "Not at all. But I think we managed to get through to him a bit. I don't think he'll be as obnoxious as he was before."

"Okay, good." She rubbed at her eyes, wincing when her hand encountered one of the bruises. "I..." She swayed on her feet a bit and Dean steadied her with his powers. "Thanks...I think I'm just going to lie down."

"Yeah, okay. Good idea." Dean went to move past her and sit down in one of the recliners when she called out his name. "What?"

Sadie looked a little awkward, which was a first. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms, as if she were cold. "Could you just...stay with me in there? I don't really feel like being alone right now."

Okay, Dean had assumed she'd want to be alone after what she experienced at the hands of a guy. Especially away from another male...one that was a demon on top of that.

But what the heck? He could sit in there and contact Sam while she tried to go to sleep.

He walked into the room without saying anything but paused when he saw there was just enough room for the bed, no chairs to sit on.

"I'll float in one of the recliners if it will fit," he told her, going to move past her in the doorway.

Sadie reached out and grabbed his arm, causing him to freeze. "Don't. Just...you can lie down in the bed too. I don't mind. Really." The way she stressed the words made it seem like she actually preferred him to.

"You sure you're okay with that? I mean...after what he did to you, you wanna share a bed with another guy? I mean I get it if you don't..."

Sadie actually squeezed his arm tightly. " _Dean._ You're my friend. Thank you, but please, don't worry. This is what I want."

"I'm not worrying," he huffed defensively, but still awkwardly lied down in the bed after Sadie crawled in. She buried herself under the covers and curled her body into a ball but Dean remained above them, stiff as a board. He hadn't ever laid platonically in a bed with a woman, and he wasn't sure what to do. Was he too close to her? Was it appropriate to move closer to her so he wasn't halfway falling off his side of the bed?

Why the hell was he even worrying about shit like that anyway?

"Besides..." Sadie whispered so quietly, Dean almost didn't hear. "He didn't rape me. He tried to, but I fought back. He didn't like it, ended up hitting and punching me more than anything."

Dean couldn't help but smile at that. "Of course you fought back, wouldn't expect anything less."

Sadie laughed, the noise mixing with a short cry. "You should see him. I think he looks even worse than me."

"I bet the asshole does." Dean reached over, playfully pushing her. He noticed seconds too late what a mistake that had probably been. "Aww, shit..."

Before he could even begin to attempt some kind of awkward apology, Sadie scooted closer and reached over, lying her hand on his arm. "Thank you, Dean."

* * *

"Shouldn't we be planning something?" Heather asked Sam. They were sitting in the living room of their 'new house', anxiously awaiting for Sam to hear something from Dean. "I just feel so useless."

"We can't do anything until Dean lets us know how Sadie is."

"Can you try asking him? He hasn't told you anything yet so what if that means she's not okay? I'm getting nervous."

"No. We agreed that he would wait until he made sure Sadie was alright before contacting me and I wouldn't bug him until he said anything." Sam did his best to reassure her, but the truth was, he was getting worried as well.

"Maybe we should..." Heather started to speak, but Sam completely ignored her as soon as he heard a voice in his head.

_Sammy, dude, you have to help me._

Dean didn't sound like he was hurt or in trouble, but Sam immediately started to freak out. Why had he asked for help? _Dean, hey. What's wrong? Are you okay? Is Sadie with you?_

_Yes! She's with me and that's the problem! She's freaked the hell out from what happened to her. She's damn good at hiding it but I can tell. They tried to rape her but she fought back._

Sam breathed a sigh of relief. He had been so afraid for Sadie and while she probably went through a lot of trauma, at least she hadn't suffered from rape. _Dean, that's great. I don't see the problem here._

_I know it is! I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the fact that she wanted me to stay with her while she tried to fall asleep! And she wanted me to lie down too and I don't know what the hell I'm doing!_

Sam couldn't help but laugh out loud, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Heather had stopped talking and was staring at him with an eyebrow raised. _You're ridiculous! You're nervous to lie in bed with a woman?_

_I can't remember ever doing it platonically! What is this? She wants to lie next to a demon? Why? What am I supposed to do? I'm practically falling off the bed and afraid to scoot any closer!_

_Dean, you would never do anything to her, right?_

_What?_ Dean sounded extremely irritated. _Of course the hell I wouldn't! What do you think I am..._

 _Relax. I was making a point. I know that Dean. And she knows that too. You're her friend. She trusts you and feels safe with you. You can lay on the bed like a normal person, you don't need to worry. She wants you there because you're a good person,_ he finished gently.

There was silence before Dean's thoughts returned. _What? Yeah..okay I knew that geeze, shut up. I'm going to bed now._

Sam chuckled fondly. _Yeah, yeah. Goodnight Dean._

_Goodnight stupid bitch._

Smiling, Sam shook his head and turned to Heather. "Sorry, that was Dean."

She smiled back. "Yeah, I figured. What did he have to say? Did he find Sadie?"

"He did. And she's okay." Sam attempted to fight off a yawn and failed. "How about let's lay down and I'll tell you."

"Sure," Heather replied.

Sam could understand his brother's awkwardness sharing a bed with a woman. He was going to have to as well...and with a woman he didn't know nearly as much as Dean knew Sadie. Heck, Dean probably had the easier situation than Sam did!

But at least Heather didn't seem to be weirded out by the predicament and took it in stride. She went right into the bed and under the covers while Sam walked over to the window, going to draw the shades...

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure...a woman...in their backyard. She was walking away from their kitchen window in a hurry...almost as if she had been...if she had been spying inside.

"Shit!" Sam cursed, trying not to take his eyes off of the retreating woman. "Heather, look!"

Heather was at the window a few moments later. "What...I don't..." She gasped when her view locked on the woman. "Where...there's curfew isn't there? And she's in our backyard? Is Theodore sending someone to spy on us?"

"Maybe he is...or maybe she's spying on us on her own for other reasons. We should watch to see if she comes around tomorrow and try to catch her. Or if we see her out in town tomorrow."

"Yeah...you should tell Dean. Let him know. He'll know what to do."

Sam shook his head, immediately dismissing the option. "No. No way. I'll do it in the morning."

Heather's mouth fell open in disbelief. "Why? He can grab her! Bring her back here so we can question here!"

"And that's exactly why I can't tell him. He'd risk being seen in order to go after her because he'd assume she's a threat to me."

"She could be!"

"Yes, she could but..." Sam sighed. "Heather, look. I know you developed a bond with Dean. You feel that he can protect you and he can solve any problem." He quickly continued when he noticed Heather looked offended. "I get that because I feel the same way. Dean's always been there for me, looking out for me, and I always relied on him to make everything better. But...I can't do that anymore. I need to think of _him_ and put his safety first, even if he doesn't like it. I have to do this to protect him."

Luckily, Heather didn't look offended anymore, but she did look confused. "But...he's a demon Sam. They can't really hurt him."

Sam sat down on the bed. "They can. Maybe not physically, but in other ways. Sure it would endanger our plan, but not really. Dean would find another way to get things done, to save Aiden. But if he got caught...do you know what he would do? He'd have no other choice than to go on a rampage, to start killing anyone who he felt would be a threat to us. Everyone in this town would die and it would...it would mess with Dean. It would set him back so far if he fell back into that mindset. I can't risk that. I won't."

Heather sat down next to him and smiled. "I get it. You _are_ protecting him. You don't want him to do something that would end up hurting him. You don't want to lose that part of him that really came out in that time while I was gone. I can see it Sam. He's definitely different from the time before I left you guys. Not..not that he was bad before but...he's...softer now...in a way. He's more open."

Sam laughed softly. "He would kill you if he heard you say that. But it's true. He's changed in every way that's good. He's happy and comfortable with who he is and I won't risk that. I love seeing him like that and he deserves it more than anyone."

"Do you think he'll understand why you waited though? Is he going to be upset that you didn't tell him tonight?"

"It's Dean. Of course he'll be upset. I just hope he'll understand why I did it."

Heather grabbed his hand and squeezed. "Don't worry _husband,_ I don't think he's capable of staying mad at you for long."

Sam only hoped she was right.

* * *

Dean woke up the next morning to find Sadie awake next to him, staring at the ceiling. Weird. He assumed as soon as she awoke that she'd bolt out of the bed to avoid laying next to a demon any longer than necessary.

He hoped she'd realize he was awake on her own, but she seemed to be spaced out, continuing to look straight ahead, lost in her thoughts.

"Hey, snap out of it." Probably not the best thing to say, but what was? He long ago forgot how to be polite. Not that he ever wanted to, but he couldn't even remember how to pretend.

Sadie startled, turning to him and then relaxed. Dean was still getting used to having a calming presence on anyone other than Sam. It was odd. He was used to hiding his identity and then having people afraid and wary of him once he decided to reveal his true self. He had hoped some people would have come to accept him, but this...Sadie, Aiden, Carl, Heather, Marcy...they seemed to actually feel comfortable around him...they chose to be around him and talk to him.

He didn't understand why. But hey, he wasn't going to complain. It was actually nice in a way he never thought it would be.

Sadie didn't seem to mind his brash comment. She didn't look angry, but at the same time, didn't smile at his joking attempt.

"I'm going to sleep for a little while longer," she told him.

"You weren't sleeping though. Staring at the wall doesn't count."

Sadie sighed, flipping over so she didn't have to face the demon. "Dean, I'm just going to stay here for now, okay? It's not really like I can go out and about if we want them to believe you're abusing me."

Dean shrugged, standing up. "Okay, have it your way. Just figured lying around in bed wouldn't help anything. Makes you think more. I know all about that. After Alastair..."

"Just leave me alone, Dean, alright? You never had a problem ignoring anyone before so why keep trying to talk to me now?"

Dean held is hands up, backing out of the room. "Fine. Next time you need a rescuing, don't expect me to come sweeping in to save you."

"I didn't need...," she started to say, stopping once she realized how false that statement would have been.

"Yeah, see. Even you know I saved your ass. I went out of my damn way to save you, hell I actually _wanted_ to when I really shouldn't give two shits about you. Think about that next time you want to yell at me." He turned around to leave the bedroom, slamming the door as he did so.

What the hell was her problem? Oh well, if she wanted to act like a bitch then he was going to act like an asshole right back. After all he did for her...

Dean fumed the whole time in the shower and was about to leave to go see Sam immediately after he got dressed. But for some reason, he hesitated in walking out the door.

Sadie was going to be stuck here, unable to join the everyone in their daily 'community breakfast' at the town hall. He should at least let her know he'd bring back some food for her. She may be annoying him but she didn't deserve to starve.

With an exaggerated sigh, he opened the bedroom door to see Sadie huddled in bed, exactly where he left her.

"I'm gonna meet up with Sam and Heather because we have to go to their stupid community breakfast shit," he told her gruffly. "I'll bring you something back."

Sadie didn't say anything at all, and Dean could tell she wasn't sleeping. He turned around to leave, getting ready to slam the door so hard it was bound to fall of the hinges...

"Dean...wait."

Aha, he knew she'd give in.

He waited a moment before he turned around, replacing his smug smile for a scowl. "What?"

Sadie looked absolutely miserable, even Dean could see that. But he refused to stop giving her a hard time. "I'm sorry. For what I said. You didn't deserve that and I didn't mean it."

"Then why say it?"

Sadie breathed deeply, running a hand through her limp dirty-blonde hair. "I...I don't even know. I woke up from a nightmare and then couldn't get back to sleep. I'm exhausted and moody and just...how I acted last night...I shouldn't have..." She blushed. "I'm not usually like that..."

Oh. Dean knew that look all too well. It was one of the feelings he redeveloped after he met back up with Sammy. She was embarrassed. For whatever reason she was embarrassed by how she acted last night.

"Last night?" He asked, confused. "You were..." he trailed off, hoping she'd finish the sentence for him.

She did. "I was weak Dean. I acted like a stupid baby. I cried and clung to you and...I'm stronger than that and I shouldn't have."

"You're a baby because you cried after almost being raped?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I...well...it didn't happen. So I should have just gotten over it."

"I'd say that's one hell of a traumatic experience if you'd ask me."

"No. Actually having it happen is. I know that. But this...this was..."

"Wait, wait...back up there." Dean held his good hand up to get her to stop. "You're saying it actually happened to you before?"

Sadie ran both her hands over her face. When she stopped, she wasn't looking at Dean as she spoke. "It was a long time ago. It doesn't matter."

"And mine was even a longer time ago. But that shit you don't forget."

That got Sadie to look up. Her mouth was open in shock and her eyes wide. "Dean...no...not you." She sounded heartbroken.

Dean shrugged his good shoulder. "It's Hell Sadie, what do you expect?"

"I mean...yeah...it is but...I thought...I actually didn't think of that at all..."

"Oh yeah, it happens. On top of all the other stuff you expect. The worst possible ways, thousands and thousands of times. What's worse is they made me watch as they did it to a fake version of Sammy. Eighty years of that shit."

"Dean, I'm so, so sorry."

It was what everyone would have said, but the way Sadie said it...it was sad, sure...but it wasn't in a way that was degrading him. She understood. As someone else that went through it, she was relating to him instead of viewing him as something that was broken.

"Well, I'm a demon. I don't really...it doesn't affect me. Well, the part about Sam does. But what happened to me...I think about it and..." Dean shrugged. "But like I said, I don't forget it and what it was like. I can't imagine the shit you must feel as a human."

Sadie nodded, looking back down at the sheets. "It was my dad's friend."

"Your...what the shit? Really?" Dean walked over to her and sat on the other edge of the bed, not really understanding why he did that, but it felt right.

"My mom died when I was seven. My dad lost it after she died. She died in a car accident when she was dropping me off at a friend's house to spend the night. She didn't want me to go out, but I just kept begging her. Someone went through a red light and...well...she died instantly. I survived with only minor injuries. My dad...he blamed me for it. He wouldn't say it outright but I knew...he was never the same toward me."

Dean thought back to the fire that started it all in Sam's bedroom. His father could have easily blamed Sam for their mother's death, but he didn't. For the questionable things his father did...including probably trying to kill his demon son if he were alive, at least he never blamed his children for circumstances out of their control.

"He drank a lot," Sadie continued. "He changed more and more each year. He lost his job, we lost the house, and by the time I was 12, we had to move in with some of his new friends. They all lived together in this rental house. Long story short, a few years later, one of the men is a little too drunk and decides that it's okay to rape me."

"You tell your father?" Dean was disgusted, what the hell kind of person did that?

"I did. He didn't believe me of course. The man never tried again, maybe he was even sorry, but he never brought it up. I think even my dad knew eventually, but he never said a thing. I had to live with that man for another year before my dad landed in jail and I got taken into the foster system."

"Shit..." Dean shook his head. "That's...that fucking sucks."

Sadie actually laughed a little. "It really fucking does. But...it was a long time ago. I had a really hard time before but I adapted. I could have become weak but I made a choice to become stronger."

"Yeah, well you are pretty damn badass."

Shaking her head, Sadie smiled. "I'm a badass that doesn't know how to fight, apparently."

"You were good enough to fight off the scumbag who attacked you. I can teach you how to fight, just takes practice."

"You really think I can learn?"

"Hell yeah. I'm the best teacher there is."

Sadie reached over and squeezed his hand. "I really wish I would have had you as a friend back then. It would have helped me a lot."

Dean raised an eyebrow at her hand touching his and he began to squirm. "Everyone wants to be my friend. It must be my winning personality."

Sadie must have noticed Dean's discomfort because she removed her hand, yet was still smiling at him. "Oh yeah. That must be it. Everyone loves getting insulted and teased by you."

"Damn straight." He stood up, stretching his back. "I'm gonna go meet Sammy now, I'll grab you some grub. Just let me ask you this..."

"Yeah?"

"The bastard that raped you...what happened to him?"

Sadie shrugged. "Nothing. I couldn't say anything to the police if we wanted a place to live, and by the time I was forced into foster care...he had fled somewhere else. Although I'm sure with the infection and everything...he's long gone."

"Hell yeah he is. Guys like that...they don't survive long. He probably got eaten. Or worse."

"Although these men...they're still all here," Sadie pointed out, referring to the men in town.

"Oh, trust me," Dean replied darkly. "They won't be for long. I'll make sure of that."

* * *

Sam answered the door once he heard one of Dean's signature knocks.

He ushered his now green-eyed brother inside to the living room where he and Heather had been waiting. He placed a hand on Dean's shoulder after he locked the door. "Everything okay? Is Sadie alright?"

"Yeah." Dean nodded, looking Sam up and down in what the younger Winchester knew was checking for any physical injuries. Of course. Even though he had been in this house the whole night, Dean still was going to worry. "For the most part, she's okay. Shaken up, but she's pulling through."

"Good, good. You guys didn't notice anything...out of the ordinary last night, did you?" Sam asked.

Dean's eyebrows raised. "Other than being in a town full of sick rapists and who else knows what, no." Dean suddenly became concerned. "Why? Did something happen? Sammy..."

"Yes. Something did happen. But don't freak out on me...please. I know you might be mad but just hear me out..."

"Sammy...," Dean warned. "Tell me. Now."

With a sigh Sam decided to just let it all out and prepare for his fate. "Last night, Heather and I were getting ready for bed and I saw something. There was a lady outside…she looked like she had just been spying in our window and was making a run for it. She didn't seem to be a threat and she didn't see anything that would give us away, but we weren't sure why she was spying on us."

Dean crossed his good arm over his bad one, but didn't look as angry as Sam had expected. "Why didn't you just tell me this last night when it happened?"

"Because…." Sam paused, unsure of how to word this.

"He was afraid you'd jump out and go after her and maybe get caught," Heather answered for him.

Sam glared at her and she ducked her head down, shrugging. Great. Dean was right; she really didn't shut up.

Sam avoided looking Dean in the eyes as he continued. "I knew you'd worry for me even though I wasn't in any immediate danger and you'd try to get her. The risk of getting caught was too great because she already was pretty far away. I was going to tell you, just not last night."

Finally risking a glance up, Sam was baffled to see that Dean didn't seem very upset. He wasn't fuming in anger but rather looked thoughtful.

"Well, okay. But we have to watch out for her tonight and get her."

"You're not…you're not mad?"

"Do you _want_ me to be mad?"

"No…I…" Sam stumbled over his words and then sighed. "I just thought you'd be upset that I didn't tell you because you'd be convinced I was in danger."

Dean narrowed his eyes. "I don't exactly like it but I trust you Sammy. I'd be pissed if it were something where someone threatened you or had a knife to you or whatever. But that…" He shrugged. "As long as you tell me as soon as you think it's safe to…I get it. I mean, you're right, I would have jumped out there without thinking and might have gotten caught. You made the right call."

"Who are you and what have you done with my brother?"

"Shut the hell up. Are you saying you expect me to always yell at you?" Dean glowered but there was lightness in his tone as well. "Like I said, I trust you when it comes to shit like that. You made a choice that saved our plan. I need you there to stop me from making stupid choices without thinking and you did that."

Still pleasantly surprised, Sam decided to just be thankful and stop talking about it. "Alright…well…thanks. So tonight, you think you can teleport Sadie here with you and we can look out for that lady?"

"Sounds like a plan," Dean agreed. "Now come on Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, we have a creepy breakfast to attend."

Sam and Heather followed Dean outside as they walked to the town hall where breakfast would be. Sam honestly had no idea what to expect when they got there. Would it be obvious that some women were being abused? Or would it be like how Dean had to pretend with Sadie, where the abused women were locked up at home so it kept up with the friendly and normal appearance of the town?

People waved as they walked by and Sam returned the gesture for show. He hoped Dean didn't look too angry or it would be a big red flag. Dean wasn't great at acting friendly. Sure, that trait came out a little bit now with their friends, but it was something that almost had to be relearned and Sam wasn't sure Dean even knew how to pretend anymore.

When they got into the meeting room turned dining hall, Sam remained taken aback by the continued friendly demeanor of the people inside. Most of them were talking amongst each other, and there were many families and couples that honestly seemed happy. Maybe there were actually more good people here than bad...

 _Check them out. Over there to the far left,_ Dean said to him.

Following his brother's direction, Sam spotted the group of about seven men huddled together. Arrogant was the one word Sam could use to describe their expressions. Not a single woman was in sight near them.

 _Two of those asses are the ones who dropped Sadie off,_ Dean continued. _And that one...recognize him?_

Sam tried to look without being noticeable. After a few seconds, he recognized the man.

_It's the man that was part of the group that found us. The one that was feeling up Heather!_

_Yeah, so I'm assuming he is at least one of the minions. The others that found us...maybe they aren't. Maybe they just think they're doing their jobs._

"Our newcomers! Welcome!"

Sam almost startled at the sound of Theodore's voice. He walked over to them, grinning that creepy smile of his and clamped Dean on the shoulder.

 _If this bastard doesn't get his hands off me..._ Dean's voice was cold and harsh.

"So..." Theodore continued, thankfully taking his hand off of Dean. "Did you have a good night? How were the houses?"

"They were great, thank you," Heather said, putting on her best innocent smile.

"Yeah, it was really nice of you to give us homes so quickly," Sam told him, hoping he sounded convincing enough.

Theodore seemed to buy both of their lies as he turned to Dean now. "And Mike, how is the lady?" His gaze got considerably more mischievous.

"Handled her just fine. Gonna take the slow route, get her to trust me," Dean answered.

"Oh! I didn't expect you to take that action." Theodore managed to keep his composure but his rigid posture told Sam he wasn't pleased.

"You were right that she's a handful. She's a fighter. This is the only way it's going to work, and I _can_ make it work." Dean's voice was strong and sure. Theodore seemed to relax.

"Great! I'm glad to hear that. Keep me updated. Now, how about you go over and meet some of my most trusted colleagues. I feel that you would fit right in with them."

Sam knew without having to follow Theodore's gesture that the man was referring to the group of men in the corner.

He was well aware that Dean could use this opportunity to try and spy on the men and get them to reveal more information. But...he didn't think Dean would be able to handle it. Sam wasn't looking down on his brother at all...but being around those possible rapists and sadistic men...he would be put in a dark mindset and may not be able to hold back in doing something that could endanger their plan...

"Thanks," Dean told Theodore. "But I'm gonna keep my cousin and Heather company for now. Don't want to leave them all alone. But I will talk with them soon."

"Sounds great Mike." Theodore patted him on the shoulder again, a little harder than last time. Sam didn't fail to notice that the creep didn't even spare himself and Heather a second glance. "You enjoy the food."

And with that, he was gone. Finally.

"There's some seats over there." Heather pointed to the table furthest from the group of men. Thank goodness she followed what had been going on and was quick on the uptake.

"Great." Sam grabbed his brother's shoulder where Theodore had touched him and squeezed. He felt some of the tension leave Dean's body. "Let's head over there. Looks like families and couples. We can find out how they live."

The food arrived just as they were sitting down. Several women began handing out the plates full of scrambled eggs and pancakes.

Dean immediately began stuffing his face, avoiding any kind of interaction with anyone.

But maybe Sam didn't have to worry about his brother needing to pretend to be friendly. The people around them smiled from a distance, but no one tried to talk to them.

 _You think he's on to us?_ Sam asked.

 _Probably,_ Dean answered gruffly, while chewing. Sam wasn't sure he'd ever get used to having a full blown conversation with his brother with a ton of other people around who would never hear their secrets. _Did you see how hard he squeezed my shoulder? He's not happy. But there's no way I could go over to them. I was not sitting over by that group of assholes alone. I can barely stand to pretend with Theodore._

_No, I get it Dean. Going over there would have been more harm than good. I don't think you could have handled it and kept up the charade. But we need to hurry and rescue Aiden soon. I don't think we can risk staying here any..._

"Hello!"

Sam looked up to see a woman smiling down at the three of them with a man and two young boys at her side. She reached over to shake their hands while continuing to talk.

"I'm Jennifer. This is my husband Kevin and my two little boys, Zack and Eric."

"Hi." Sam smiled back, trying to watch the expressions and mannerisms of the two adults to see if they may be hiding something. "I'm Henry, this is my wife Heather and my cousin Mike. We just came in yesterday."

"Yes I saw. I hope everything went alright last night?"

"It did." Heather entered the conversation. "Your boys are so cute! How old are they?"

"Four and five. Do you have any kids?"

"No." Heather smiled sweetly. "We were newlyweds before this all...happened. Never got the chance. What about you guys? Where were you before this all?"

Jennifer looked a little nervous to answer, glancing around the room without moving her head. "I...I lived in a town about fifteen minutes away. We survived there for a while but...it was too hard. Then, some of Theodore's men came in and well...I had to...for the kids..."

"Your husband...he wasn't...," Heather began to ask, looking at the man standing next to her.

"No...I wasn't..." She blushed. "My husband died early on in the outbreak. Kevin he...well...we got paired up. And well...he's great. He helps take care of my boys. We have a little girl together at home."

Sam took all this information in with interest. Finally, they were learning about the town and apparently, not every man was an abusive jerk.

Kevin put an arm around his wife and nothing about it was possessive or controlling. It was gentle, a touch you would only give someone you truly care about.

"You got paired up too, didn't you?" Kevin asked Dean. His tone was conversational but there was something protective in his eyes.

_Dean...you think they're trying to find out the same thing we were? That you're not like those other men?_

_That's what I'm getting. You think we should trust them?_

_I doubt they work for Theodore. I believe them. Go ahead._

Dean held his head high and stared the man right in the eyes. "She's okay. Don't worry about her. She's safe."

Kevin seemed relieved and Jennifer outright grinned. "That's great news! We're so glad to hear! Well, we'll let you finish your breakfast, thank you."

They walked away and Sam watched as Dean elbowed Heather in the shoulder.

"What the hell got into you?" he asked quietly. "That was fricken awesome. Found out exactly what we wanted to know."

Heather shrugged. "Well, I figured she would talk easier to a woman and I know you can always get into a conversation when it comes to your kids." She finished the last part a little sadly.

"That was awesome Heather. So we know not everyone is bad here and some people just stay to survive," Sam whispered. "But how are we going to find out who?"

"Attention!"

Everyone in the room turned to face Theodore, who was standing by the exit doors.

"I have been informed that there is a situation underway that requires my urgent action. I will need all of you to return to your homes at once, and do not leave until you hear the bells."

Well, this couldn't be good.

* * *

Dean had no idea what the hell was going on and he was getting pissed off. It was now nine at night and they still never heard any damn bells. This was putting a major damper in their plans and he had no idea if this 'incident' that Theodore had mentioned had anything to do with them.

Although, no one had paid them any sort of special attention. If Theodore was referring to them, he would have done something by now, like break down their doors and try to kill or imprison them.

When the brothers had realized no one was going to come knocking at their doors, Dean had informed Sam that he would teleport over to their house with Sadie so they could wait together and see if the woman appeared outside. However, with everyone being locked up, he doubted it.

"There's curfew anyway Dean, and she broke that. She was already out of her home after the allowed time so who's to say she won't show up tonight again?" Sam had told him.

He had a point.

Two of them at a time were stationed near both the kitchen window and the bedroom, where they could easily see outside, but where the woman would have a hard time seeing them.

"Did you see her at breakfast at all?" Sadie asked them from the living room, where she and Heather were sitting while the brothers took turns watching outside. "Not that it would have mattered, I don't think it would be a good idea to approach her in public anyway."

"No," Sam told her. "I made sure to check, but there were a lot of people there, and we got stuck in a conversation, so I could have easily missed her."

"She had to be there," Dean said. "Unless she's one of the women that Theodore wants to stay inside because she isn't cooperating like he wants."

"That could be true," Sam answered from the other room. "She could be playing a game as well with whoever she's paired up with. Pretending she is someone that her husband is taking advantage of without consent just so no one will suspect her of spying."

Dean sighed. He hated all these guessing games. He just wanted to know. There was too much speculation with everything that was going on. The sooner they found her, the sooner they could get out of this creepy ass town and never look back.

"Dean! Hey! I see her, she's jumping over the fence in the right corner!"

That was all the indication that Dean needed. In an instant he teleported exactly where he wanted. The woman flinched when he appeared out of the blue right beside her, but before she could react or let out a cry of surprise he latched onto her, teleporting her inside the house with him.

Sure, she'd know he wasn't human now, but what other choice did they have? He couldn't risk dragging her inside and having her scream for help. Besides, if she had been spying inside his and Sadie's house as well, she'd may have already seen his black eyes.

The woman who had been spying on them African American, probably early to mid thirties. She looked around as Sam and the girls gathered near her, she seemed to be both terrified and confused that she'd been magically teleported inside the house she had hoped to spy on.

She may not come across as dangerous, but Dean wasn't about to take any chances. He grabbed her and pressed her up against the wall to keep her from trying to escape. He couldn't help but smirk when she gasped in fright.

"What the hell are you?" she yelled, her eyes wide and her body shaking. Okay, so apparently she hadn't seen his black eyes.

Dean flicked his eyes to their natural demon shade, watching how the woman flinched and tried to pull away with no avail. "Now, how about you tell me who you are? It's in your best interest to tell me why you were spying on us outside. Has Theodore ordered you to do so?"

"How could Theodore let a demon in here?" She stopped trying to get away and now seemed to be attempting bravery. Dean understood. She didn't stand a chance in getting away, so why not go down pretending to be fearless? "Are you working for him? I know he's a sick bastard but demons too?"

Dean narrowed his eyes. He wasn't sure if she was playing a game or not. What if she worked for him? "I'm not with that asshole. What about you? Why were you spying on us?"

The woman only shook her head. She seemed scared out of her mind. "I don't believe you. And I'd never tell you anything! You could be worse than Theodore. I'd rather die."

 _Dean, let her go._ Sam's voice entered his thoughts. _She's terrified_ _and apparently hates Theodore so much that she is willing to die because she thinks you're on his side. She obviously isn't working for him. If you show her some kindness maybe it will help her to trust us._

Dean internally huffed. Fine, he'd go with Sam's advice and try to put on a friendly act. Hopefully it was convincing, because he wasn't sure exactly what to say.

"Listen, I'm not gonna hurt you," Dean told the woman, who continued to look unconvinced and scared. "I'm gonna let you go now. So just don't run away and we can talk."

"Why would I bother to run away? If you want to kill me, you're going to do it either way. Just kill me now. I'm not going to give away any information."

"I'm not going to. We're looking for help just like I think you are. So we might as well try and get along."

He let go of the woman and she immediately folded her arms as if trying to look as small as possible. She glanced around at them all nervously.

"Why would a demon be part of a survivor group of humans?" she asked, her voice wavering. "It doesn't make any sense, didn't they all start this virus to kill all humans?"

"Miss..." Sam stepped in, his puppy dog eyes in full force. "We're going to be straight up honest with you. We made up fake identities because we wanted to rescue people from our group who were abducted and brought here. This is my brother, not my cousin. His name is Dean and I'm Sam..."

"A demon with a human brother?" The woman shook her head in disbelief. "Yeah, right."

"And this is why it makes sense," Sam continued to explain, using a gentle voice. "Dean was human, born as my brother. He went to Hell to save my life, and when he came back...that...love for me was still there...and everything else grew from there. He's never been evil, and the demons hate him...he's on the right side."

"If you've been spying on us, then you know Dean still has some humanity. A lot even," Sadie spoke up.

Dean rolled his eyes at the cheese-fest that Sam and Sadie spewed out of their mouths. But it was probably a good thing if it would lead to the woman believing the truth.

"I saw that he hugged you," the woman addressed Sadie. "But just because he cares for some people doesn't mean he cares for everyone."

"You're right." Dean crossed his arms. "I don't care for everyone. Hell, I don't care for hardly anyone. But I'm not some evil bastard. I've been on this side all along. What reason would I have to pretend?"

"Dean saved my life," Heather said, coming to Dean's aid. "He just saved Sadie's too and he can help save yours and everyone else in this town."

"We just need you to trust us." Sam smiled kindly at her. "We hate what's going on in this town just as much as you probably do. We want to put an end to it and can help each other. Are you okay with that?"

The woman remained looking skeptical, but appeared less frightened than before. Still, she said nothing in response to Sam's question.

"Think of it this way." Dean tried not to sigh of impatience. "If I was some psycho evil demon, wouldn't I have just walked in and murdered you all to get what I want? I didn't. Any other demon would kill anything in its path."

Finally the woman nodded her head. "Okay, fine. I'll trust you." She didn't sound certain, but hey, she was going to help them. That was enough for Dean.

"Why don't you sit down?" Sam suggested to her. "Get comfortable?"

They gathered in the living room, Dean and Sam on one couch with the woman on the loveseat. Heather and Sadie sat in the two recliners.

"Now how about you explain to us exactly what is going on in this screwed up town?" Dean asked her.

"My name is Eliza...and I'm trying to stop it," she answered. "I learned early on that this town was messed up. Sure, we got paired up, but at first it was all consensual. Mutual agreements between men and women. When he started forcing some together against their will...me and my husband knew we had to try and stop it. But Theodore is strong and clever. That's why I was spying ...to try to find out on which side you are. If you are allies or enemies. We need help. We tried a few times on our own to stop Theodore, but it never worked. It always results in this...a lockdown."

"Wait, someone's trying to kill Theodore right now? That's why the town is locked down?" Sadie asked.

"I can't know for sure, but it's either one of two things. Someone tried to or has escaped... or Theodore and his crew found out about an assassination attempt." She sighed, rubbing her hands over her eyes. "This is why I'm even bothering to trust a demon, because we can have an actual chance at winning this time. Maybe you're the only one that can stop him."

"I damn sure can," Dean said proudly.

"We will. I promise you," was Sam's response.

"Okay. You're our last resort. First...I need to know...while you three were staying in the McKinney's house...did you find any information written down anywhere about Theodore?"

"The McKinney's?" Sam asked.

"The house we stayed in at first was the house kept up for newcomers on their first day," Heather said. "At least that's what we were told."

"You were..." Eliza shook her head in horror. "No! I bet there was still food in the fridge...personal belongings...the McKinneys were murdered the day before by Theodore! Lisa...the wife...she...she saw something regarding Theodore that really scared her...she was going to tell me as soon as we were alone but she was dead by the next morning! He killed her and her husband to protect some kind of information she had on him!"

Dean shook his head in disbelief. So the food wasn't kept there for newcomers...they had eaten a couples' meal probably just hours after they were killed. The newspapers that had been collected...the playing cards...the feel of it having been lived in...it all made sense now. And whatever information those people had could have helped them take him down...now it was all gone.

"He suspects and he kills," Eliza told them. "I'm surprised he hasn't killed me yet...maybe it's because I'm pregnant again...It's just a matter of time before he does the same to you guys. I can tell he's suspicious...in a few days..."

"We won't let him survive another few days," Dean deadpanned.

"But...he's tricky...he's smart," Eliza argued.

"Which is why I'm gonna take down his operation from the inside...slowly...all while finding out where Aiden is and who else is involved. They'll never see it coming. This ends tonight."

"Dean...how?" Sam asked, concerned and desperate.

"Possession." Dean smiled darkly, his excitement building up. "Sammy, get me ready to leave my body. It's about time I took a ride."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise this wait won't be so ridiculously long! Please drop by to leave a review with your thoughts, I could use them in moving forward. I just would like to know if anyone on this site is reading this, and their thoughts on the fic. What you liked or would want to see. I'm considering not adding any more chapters on this site because of the apparent lack of interest.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was hoping to finish this a few weeks ago, but I had a bit of a dilemma. With the way the plot is currently unfolding, I originally had a lot more planned for this chapter. But as it turned out, this chapter is already at 7k words, and it would be upward of 15k if I went with my original plan. I ended up deciding to split the chapter in two because of length and to make it easier for you guys to follow. There would be way too much to take in otherwise!
> 
> Big thanks to Gabi for betaing this so quickly while she is busy planning a trip, I appreciate it a ton. :)
> 
> We left off with Dean about to possess their neighbor in order to find out more information on Theodore. I hope everyone enjoys.

"I…I still don't get it."

Eliza was staring at Dean's empty body that was propped up on the recliner before quickly turning away. It was as if she could only look for so long before she became too creeped out.

Sam knew he had to tread lightly with her in order for her to trust them and not have a panic attack. While he was getting impatient, he couldn't let it show.

"What don't you understand?" he asked her as kindly as possible.

"How can you do things like this…take him out of his body…and not be a demon too?" She seemed baffled.

Sam inwardly sighed. He had tried to explain the whole thing with him having demon blood and a special bond with Dean the best that he could. He wasn't sure what else he could say. "Demons can't do stuff like that. They have other powers and can't use their powers against each other unless one is really strong. But I can use mine against them because I'm human."

"To be a demon you have to go to Hell for a long time," Sadie spoke up. "Sam can't be one just because he has some demon blood in him." Thank goodness he had someone else willing to help talk for him.

"Well…okay….you had some in you when you were a baby and couldn't control it. But then why do you keep….drinking….your brother's blood? Why don't you stop?" Eliza sounded unconvinced.

"It's helping us, why would he stop?" Sadie almost couldn't hide her huff and Sam tried not to laugh at her tone.

Sam walked over to Eliza and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, frowning when she flinched a little. "Eliza, I thought you trusted us to help you?"

"I…I do…I have to. But…it doesn't mean I don't think this all is really weird."

Sam laughed a little at that. "It is weird. It definitely is. But…Dean's blood doesn't hurt me. He's my brother and we're family so…it doesn't have bad effects on me like it would if it were some other demon's blood. Plus…Dean's a good demon. The powers I get are only used to help Dean and to fight against other demons."

"If Dean can be good and be a demon, you don't have to worry about Sam as a human," Sadie pointed out.

Eliza shook her head almost nervously. "No you're right. I'm sorry. This is just…really really weird," she repeated.

"It's okay," Sam assured her. "Dean's hiding in the neighbor's house right now. Once the guy comes back, he'll possess him and he'll be able to discover a lot."

"Do you really think he'll be able to be taken down?" Eliza asked.

"Of course. He can't beat Dean with him being a demon."

"I'm not…I'm not saying he'll kill Dean. But…Theodore…what if he gets away and tries to start this in another town?" She sounded absolutely horrified at the idea.

"Dean won't let that happen. None of us will," Sam replied with confidence. "Now, is there anything else you can tell us about Theodore and his minions? Anything that might help?"

Eliza thought for a moment. "I...I can't think of anything that stands out...oh...wait..." She took a deep breath. "He says some really weird things. Like...'they finally follow me again' and 'I already feel stronger'. It's really weird but I just assumed it was because he's crazy."

Sam processed the information but couldn't come up with a logical reason Theodore had been saying that. Sure, maybe he had a position of office or leadership before, but to say he was becoming stronger? It had to be that he was probably crazy or power hungry.

"Yeah, maybe he's messed up mentally more than we even know," Sam told her. "Is there anything else?"

"Well...he kind of talks like he's preparing something for someone else. Like...this isn't just all his doing."

Sadie stood up from where she had been sitting on the couch next to Heather, who remained silent. "How do you know that?" she asked, concerned and urgent.

Sam believed that he understood her worry. After what she almost had to go through, she wanted to make sure no one else was involved in this and that it wasn't happening somewhere else.

"I'm not too sure...but when I was spying on him once...he was talking to one of his minions and saying that things needed to be ready in a month. That he hoped we had enough children."

Sam was instantly on alert even more than before. This sounded bad. Who was Theodore waiting for and why did it involve the children? "Enough children for what? For who?"

Eliza shook her head sadly. "I don't know. That's what the McKinneys were trying to find out. With that month ticking down...I think they got nervous and slipped up somewhere when they were spying. That's why Theodore got rid of them. He found out they were spying and knew they had some good information."

"How much longer until that month is over?" Heather asked. She was still sitting on the couch, her legs drawn up and her arms wrapped around them.

"He...he said it about three weeks ago." Eliza's voice was shaking. "Whatever is happening...whoever might be coming here, it could be any day now..."

Sam put a hand on Eliza's shoulder and this time, she seemed to actually lean into him a little. "Don't worry," he told her. "This will be taken care of before that. I'm going to tell Dean all this right now so he knows."

He knew they would take down Theodore, he just hoped it was before there were any casualties.

* * *

Dean floated around idly, waiting for the sick bastard to show up. The idiot wouldn't even have time to be surprised before Dean took his body for a ride.

_Dean, hey. I've got some news you should know._

Dean was relieved to hear his brother's voice, not that he would admit it. Floating over here on his own was boring and he had wanted to talk to Sam but hadn't wanted to bother him. Besides, he had to still keep up his strong big brother-demon persona now and then. And contacting Sam to pass the time would have seemed needy.

_What's up Sasquatch?_

Dean chuckled when Sam's sigh entered his thoughts. Vaguely…he wondered where his thoughts were centered now that he technically didn't have a head.

Sam would be sighing even more if he could know the ridiculous things Dean was thinking of. Good thing they could easily control what they wanted to send out to each other.

_Before I tell you, you have to tell me this. Are you somewhere safe? Are you sure no one can see you?_

Now it was Dean's turn to sigh. Of course Sam would be over there worrying about if he were safe. Dean was just starting to understand that he wasn't the only one that was always concerned when they were separated. The younger Winchester worried nearly as much as Dean himself. It had always been obvious, but Dean had thought he didn't deserve any of that care and that he should be the giver and not the receiver.

But Sam had been right when he said their bond worked both ways. Of course it did, they wouldn't be this close if it didn't. He realized sometime recently that his life was more important than he ever gave it credit for. It didn't have to be a selfish thought to believe that he was worth something. It was actually kind of nice to have someone value you the way Sam did.

Wow, that was sappy as all hell. He couldn't let Sam know those cheese-smothered thoughts just went through his mind.

 _Of course I'm fine,_ he told his brother, trying to control his thoughts so his voice came across cocky and confident. _It's a tight fit, but hey I've…_

_Don't finish that thought you perv. And please don't tell me you're in a woman's underwear drawer of something…_

_Oh come on, even I'm not that pervy!_ Although now that Sam mentioned it, why hadn't Dean though of that? _I'm actually chilling in the microwave._

 _You…._ He could practically see Sam slamming his head against the wall in frustration. _Of course you are. Why am I surprised. You better not let them see you….or worse…cook you._

_I'm a weird wispy air substance of a hell-damned soul. I can't get cooked!_

_You sure about that?_ He finally heard Sam laugh, and that's all Dean had wanted. _Anyway, I wanted to tell you that Eliza told me more stuff regarding Theodore._

_Did she say when this jackass neighbor is supposed to come back? Because he's taking forever._

_What? No, be patient! Focus, Dean! She told me that she thinks he's working with someone else. That three weeks ago he mentioned things need to be ready in a month's time and that he hoped there were enough children in town._

_The hell?_ If Dean had a face, he would have scrunched up his nose in disgust. _So he's waiting for someone to stop by…which would only be a week or a few days from now damnit…and take the kids or something?_

 _I don't know._ Sam sounded defeated and it just urged Dean even more to kill this bastard and stop whatever he had planned. _But Eliza also said he kind of rants to himself about how people are finally following him again and that he feels stronger than before. It just sounds so odd….I don't know what to make of it._

_Sounds like he's a crazy, sick twisted nutcase that probably broke free of a mental institution and is working for a even sicker psychopath who is using his crazy to their advantage._

_Yeah….maybe. I can't help but think maybe it's something else._

_Well when I possess this guy…if he ever shows up…then hopefully I'll be able to find all that out._ Dean tried to sound as reassuring as possible.

 _Or maybe he doesn't know anything,_ Sam mumbled, his tone depressed.

Uh-uh, Dean couldn't take hearing his brother sound like that anymore. Sam had just gotten over being depressed about the world going to shit, the kid didn't need something else upsetting him. _Don't think like that. He's gotta know more than we do Sammy._

_Yeah…that's true…just…that house that we were in before, the one who's occupants Theodore killed, the MicKinneys, they knew something. Maybe they left some sort of note or something in warning._

_I'm sure Theodore's minions scoured and cleaned that house of any evidence like that._ The last thing Dean wanted to do was to make a detour to that house before rescuing Aiden and killing Theodore, he just wanted this over with.

_Yeah, maybe. But these people had been able to spy on him for so long in secret. Maybe they're smart enough to hide it somewhere good. It could help us._

It looked like he wouldn't win this one. He might as well take a quick look if it would make Sam happy. _Tell you what Sammy, after I possess jackass, I'll take a quick pit stop over to that house before I go on with the rest of our plan. Maybe I can find something._

That seemed to be what Sam had been hoping for, but hadn't wanted to ask Dean to derail his plan. _Thanks, Dean._

_Shut up bitch._

Sam laughed again. _Yeah, whatever jerk. I really should shut up so you can concentrate. Let me know how it goes, okay? And be careful._

_Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't get your panties in a twist. I'll be fine and I'll get back quick._

_You better._

If Dean had eyes at the moment, he would have rolled them. Instead, he decided to focus and concentrate on the scene outside of the microwave.

Asshole's 'wife' was still sitting on the couch. She seemed on edge, nervous. Dean knew she was probably anticipating her husband to come home, unsure of what might happen when he did.

Little did she know that he was never going to lay a finger on her again.

Dean didn't have to wait much longer before the man returned. He entered the house, the door flying open and then slammed it closed, his face angry and hair disheveled.

"I..." The woman stood up immediately, her posture stiff. "What happened? Do you need anything?"

"Shut the hell up!" asshole bellowed, kicking a magazine rack at his feet so hard that the journals spilled across the floor. "Get out of my sight! I don't want to look at you right now." Dean noticed how the man was clutching onto a bleeding wound on his forearm. "It's not like you'd be able to help me with this anyway, you always screw up, you bitch!"

The woman turned and walked into the bedroom, her hands shaking, but her face showing no indication that the words had hurt her.

Oh, but he was going to be hurting soon, that was for sure. He'd be in a lot more pain than that measly cut on his arm.

Dean waited until he heard the door shut to the bedroom before he made his move. As soon as it closed, he seeped through the crack of the microwave's door and made a beeline for the man who was now punching the wall.

The demon took great joy in watching the horrified look on the man's face right before he possessed him.

As Dean settled into the body, he made sure to keep his mind wide open. Every other time he possessed someone, he completely cut off his mind's connection with that of the host so they didn't have to suffer from the effects of dealing with a demon's darkness. But this time...Dean was making sure that the man could see everything his mind had to offer, pushing those Hell memories toward the man's soul. He was going to have to suffer through the tortures and pains of Hell almost as if he were going through them himself.

Dean could hear the man's soul scream out in unfathomable anguish, and he grinned.

Now that that was being taken care of, Dean began focusing on what was in the man's mind. He closed his eyes and let the memories and thoughts become available to him.

It was almost as if he was downloading the man's thoughts, filing them away into a part of himself. Images passed through Dean's mind, rapidly and he was instantly aware of an extensive amount of information, it was like the flip of a switch.

He knew exactly who was helping Theodore; he could see their faces clear as day.

He knew what this man had done to his wife, what his friends were doing to theirs. He saw these assholes shooting innocent survivors who refused to join their camp.

He also knew exactly where Aiden and the other boys were being held, as well as the girls. No pain was being brought upon them, at least not yet. But the children were being taught the ways of the town, probably in an attempt to brainwash them.

Dean opened up his mind more, sending hellish tortures and his deepest, darkest thoughts straight into the man's mind.

It would be a fate worse than death. Well, until Dean decided it was safe to murder him and the rest of his friends.

Concentrating more, Dean sifted through these foreign thoughts and became excited once he realized that this man knew where Theodore was staying. Not only that….but there was something else…something recent…

Dean mentally gasped as he realized what the whole commotion had been about today. He could see it clearly, this man and Theodore's minions were trying to kill someone who had arrived in the abandoned town they kept watch over.

It had been Castiel.

Of course the men hadn't killed him and some had been injured by Cas, including this freak. He and several other men were sent back to the town while Theodore and the others tried to look for Cas, who had seemingly slipped away.

Hopefully this meant that Castiel would soon find this town and be able to help them.

They were going to need his help, Dean assumed. The only information this man knew about Thedore was where he stayed. There was no personal information, which showed that Theodore wasn't close to his minions and only used them for missions he wanted carried out. If Dean's plan to stop him failed…then Castiel might be their only hope.

Dean was about to let Sam know of this information when he heard footsteps. He opened his stolen eyes and right away knew he made a mistake.

He had kept his eyes black instead of switching them human.

The man's wife was frozen for a moment in horror before she began to scream. She didn't get much noise out though, as Dean ran over and clamped a strong hand over her mouth.

"Relax! Shut up! I'm not going to hurt you!"

This put a damper on things and would slow everything down. Dean hadn't been planning on revealing himself to this woman at all. Of course something was going to go wrong.

"I'm possessing this asshole so I can find out information about Theodore before I kill him. He took one of my people, just a kid, and I need to get him back." Dean narrowed his eyes at the woman. "Now I'm gonna let you talk, but you better keep it damn quiet."

He removed his hand from over her mouth, getting ready to knock her out if she tried screaming again.

"What the hell do you mean?" She wasn't quiet but it wasn't going to alert anyone. "You're...you're not Shawn?"

Shawn, right, the name of the dude he was possessing. Of course Dean had also learned that while merging their minds, but he hadn't found it in him to care.

"Obviously I'm not Shawn. Black demon eyes...hello? I took control of him. Like I already said, possession."

The woman looked lost, her fright pushed to the side for the moment. "Possession...so...so they were right? There really isn't demon-syndrome?"

Oh yeah, these people had been told that the demons were really another virus for some reason. That anyone with black eyes was sick and couldn't be cured.

"Theodore lied to all of you. Demon-syndrome is a load of bull-crap. And _who_ was right? Someone told you it really is possession?"

"There's people here that try and convince some of us that demon-syndrome wasn't a disease, and that the black smoke that enters the person is really a whole other soul taking over them, a soul from Hell. That's...that's what you are?" Her voice shook as she spoke.

It made sense that some citizens obviously knew the real truth from their time before this town and wanted to inform the other more gullible people. Now that he thought of it...Eliza knew what he really was, she was probably one of the people this woman was referring to.

"That's exactly what I am. But believe it or not I'm here to help. You people got lucky that one of my own is here so I can save the day."

"One of your own? There's another demon-creature like you here?" The woman's voice rose and Dean fought the urge to shove his hand over her mouth once more.

"What? No! One of my people, my group! The kid, Aiden! He's not a demon, I'm the only one that is."

The woman shook her head from where Dean still had her cornered in the bedroom. "If you are from Hell, why are you so nice?"

"Nice?!" Dean was baffled. "This is far from what I'd think is nice!"

"The whole reason I believe your story on what demon-syndrome really is...it's because of your face."

"Lady, this isn't even my face." Dean was more confused than ever now, what the hell was she referring to?

"Exactly! It's...it's his face, but it's not! He...he was always so vile looking, his face screamed evil. And now...there's no way you could be him. His face changed to be so much kinder...he never looked like that, ever. How can...how can something from Hell not have evil in its face?"

Dean sighed. While he was glad she could tell he wasn't like that asshole, one of the things he hated the most was having to explain himself and why he was the way he was.

"I'm not going into my whole life story. Just know I'm a 'he' and not an 'it', and I'm different because I've got someone that cares about me. Now...I need you to stay quiet about this if someone asks if you saw anything and you gotta stay put in here."

The woman nodded; there was now a hopeful expression on her face that outweighed the fear. "Are you really going to stop Theodore? And what are you going to do with Shawn?"

"What do you _want_ me to do with Shawn?"

"Kill him. Dear god, kill him and make him suffer." Her voice lowered to almost a growl.

"Oh, that will be my pleasure. After I use him for what I need, I'm gonna gut him as soon as I can. Just so you know, the guy is suffering right now by watching endless loops of Hell torture as if he were living it."

She seemed confused to how that was possible, but didn't ask any further questions about the matter.

"Alright, I'm gonna leave now so I can get this shit done before morning." Dean turned around and began walking away until he heard the woman calling out to him.

"Wait!"

"I really don't have time for this, lady."

"I...I shouldn't be giving away this information, because Shawn and the others would kill me if he knew, but...I'll take the risk. If this can end, then taking any chance is worth it. I need to tell you that Shawn was injured." She pointed to the wound on Dean's meatsuit's arm that Dean hadn't bothered to heal. "So he was sent back early. The ban hasn't lifted and there's still guards patrolling. They're all on alert. So...you shouldn't make yourself known or be too suspicious right now."

While Dean already knew most of this, he hadn't known that the guards were still on tight security. That information was actually helpful. It was a good thing Dean hadn't gone with his natural instincts and knocked her out. "Alright, I'll hang low then. And you know what?" He gestured to the man he was wearing. "When this is all done, I'm gonna leave you to do the final honors in ending this bastard."

* * *

The woman had been right when she said security was still on high alert. Theodore's minions were roaming the streets with guns, forcing Dean to teleport from backyard to backyard in order to get back to the McKinneys' previous home.

If Theodore indeed wasn't back in town yet, this stop would actually do good to fill in time. He was glad Sam had thought of the idea.

He hid in a bush in someone's backyard as a few guards walked by, cursing that he even had to do this in this bastard's body. He'd much prefer to go in smoke-cloud form, but unfortunately he was going to need a physical form in order to fully search the house and open drawers.

The man's suffering was becoming a bit overbearing in their shared space. Dean was feeling too giddy upon sensing it and he was smart enough now to know that those feelings weren't a good sign. He would get too caught up in making the man suffer more and become distracted from the mission. Regretfully, he pushed the man's soul back and had it in hibernation. As much as he'd like him to endlessly suffer during the full possession, the risks weren't worth it.

He'd get what was coming for him anyway.

Once Dean was positive that the guards had moved a safe distance away, he risked teleporting into the next yard. He was only a few homes away now…

Dean heard a knocking on the window of the home who's yard he was in. A man was looking at him in confusion and disbelief. Shit, had he seen him teleport? Probably not. But still…

Focusing in on his powers, Dean reached out toward the man and forced his head to hit the glass roughly at just the right angle. He slumped over onto the floor of his home, knocked out.

He wasn't sure if this was going to come back to bite him in the ass, but Dean couldn't afford to have the man alert one of the guards about him. Maybe after he woke up, he wouldn't remember seeing a man in his backyard. And if he did remember…well…at least he'd be out for a while, which bought Dean some time.

Before anyone else in the house could discover the man passed out on the floor, Dean teleported into the next yard, and then finally into the backyard of the house he needed to be at.

He was beginning to feel dizzy. While the teleporting was short distances, it was a lot of quick teleportation in a short period of time. Plus, being in a foreign body wasn't helping matters at all, he always felt stronger in his own.

At least now he would have a break from using his powers after he was inside the house. Before he entered, Dean walked quietly up to the windows, peering inside. He waited a few minutes and didn't see anyone in any of the rooms. Deeming it safe, Dean teleported once more inside, landing in the kitchen. It was dark, and he couldn't afford to use much light in a house that was supposed to be empty.

Remembering the candles that were in the house, Dean felt around for the one in the kitchen, lighting it with a wave of his hand. A dim light glowed around him and the scent of 'ocean breeze' filled his senses.

These things weren't half bad; he'd have to grab a bunch once they found someplace to settle down. Sam would make fun of him, but oh well.

As he thought of his brother, he figured now would be a safe time to contact him.

_Sammy, hey. I'm in the McKinneys' house right now. I'm looking for the note. Does she have any ideas on where they'd hide it?_

_Dean,_ Sam's voice held relief. _I was just wondering if I should contact you. How did it go with possessing that guy?_

_Well…there were some…complications…_

Before Dean could finish explaining, Sam was panicking with worry.

_Complications? What complications? Dean, are you okay? Don't you even think of lying to me or…_

_Sammy! Chill the hell out. Of course I'm okay, I'd tell you if I wasn't. There was just a hold up when I went to possess him. The wife saw my eyes and freaked there for a minute._

_Why did you have your eyes black?!_ Even through mind-talk, Sam's freak-out voice was obnoxious.

_Do you think I did it on purpose, you idiot? It was right after I possessed him and was scanning his mind for thoughts. When I opened them, of course they were black for a split second and she happened to be standing right there when I did._

_I'm guessing you got her to calm down if you're in the McKinneys' house now?_

Dean was pleased his brother didn't even think of the possibility of Dean killing the woman after she found out his secrets. A few years back, Sam would have worried that Dean might have…hell Dean himself figured that maybe he would have if it made things easier.

_Yeah, she seemed more relieved that I wasn't her asshole husband. I had to tell her that 'demon syndrome' wasn't real and that I was going to kill Theodore and all his cronies._

_I don't get why he even bothered lying to them about the demon syndrome thing._ Sam had the same thoughts as Dean. _Eliza said that she knew it was a lie all along, she knew what the demons were, but she didn't dare say anything to Theodore since he was so insistent on having them believe this._

_You think Theodore is actually screwing with everyone or he's just insane and believes his theory?_

_I'm not sure. When you possessed this guy, did you gain any new knowledge on Theodore at all?_ Sam asked.

_I know where Aiden is being kept, and I know who Theodore's other minions are, but it doesn't seem like these guys were too close to him. There's not that much new info. Oh, but guess what? The reason for the lockdown is because Cas was in the abandoned town we were in earlier. They know he's not human and are trying to kill him, but he got away and they lost him._

_Cas is nearby? Dean, that's great! Hopefully he can find us!_ Finally, there was a spark of happiness in Sam's voice.

_That's what I was hoping for. But we can't rely on him, we gotta do our job and try and stop this ourselves. So come on, help me out here. Does Eliza know anything about where her friends would have hid information they wrote down…if they even did at all?_

_I asked her, she says to stay away from the obvious places like cupboards and drawers, it would be the first place Theodore and his followers would think to look._

Of course Dean had been looking through the cupboards right then. He closed them with a sigh, walking over to a hanging picture frame and looking behind it with no luck.

 _This is gonna take forever,_ Dean muttered his thoughts to Sam.

_Don't stress, relax. Be patient. Just keep looking for a while and if you can't find it, just continue on with our plan to free Aiden._

Leave it to Sam, always the voice of reason. Dean rolled his stolen eyes at his brother's comments, but did find himself relaxing because of the words.

He dug under the sink by the plumbing to see if anything had been left there only to find nothing but some mold.

_You know, I'm probably going to have to ditch this body soon and go by smoke cloud. I figure the best way to get Aiden out of there is to possess him._

_Will he not feel anything?_ Dean could tell that Sam didn't like the idea. Hell, Dean didn't like it either. But they both knew they really didn't have another option. This was the best shot of getting him out of there safely.

 _Of course not. I'm not gonna open my mind to a kid. If I blocked Carl out I'm definitely blocking out Aiden,_ Dean assured him. _I don't think I can teleport from where he's at all the way back to our house, so I'm gonna have to get him a bit closer._

_Since he's so small, it should be easier to sneak around._

_Exactly what I was thinking._ Dean lifted up the last picture frame in the living room and groaned. He moved into the bedroom he and Sam stayed in, his frustration growing.

 _So you're gonna bring Aiden back here and then go after Theodore?_ Sam asked.

_That's the plan. Smoke cloud into the house where he stays and possess him. Then stab him in the heart while I'm in control. Simple as that._

_I really hope it is that simple._

_There's no reason it shouldn't be. Now **you're** the one that's gotta relax, Sammy._

It was silent for a while as Dean checked the bedroom. A sudden light from outside the window however, had Dean extinguishing the candle he was holding and ducking down on the floor.

 _Shit! There's someone out there!_ Dean wanted to see how close they were, but was afraid to be spotted by looking out the window. _I think they have flashlights._

_Dean, it's okay. I see them too. It's guards sweeping the area. They shouldn't come in the house, just stay quiet. Check in with me once they pass._

Dean inwardly grumbled, but only to himself, making sure Sam couldn't hear it. This was all taking too long. He had been hoping everything would be quick and easy. What if something major went wrong that they weren't suspecting? He wasn't nearly as confident as he led his younger brother to believe.

He stayed on the ground against the wall, right under the bedroom window. The flashlight sweeped over it and light spread into the room. It bounced off of the mirror and Dean could see his reflection for a second. Gross. He couldn't wait to get out of this body. He looked about as dirty and uncomfortable as he felt.

Luckily, the flashlight didn't linger inside the house. They probably hadn't even meant to shine it in and were just sweeping it around the area.

"You don't see him, do you?" one of the men said, sounding worried.

"No. If that thing got into town, he would make himself known," another male responded. "Did you see how unstoppable it was? Bullets didn't faze it! Even the demon-infected people react more to bullets than that thing! If he knew where we were, he'd come charging in and take whatever he was looking for!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Did you see Theodore's face? He actually looked scared for once!"

Huh, so these guys, like the man Dean was possessing, had been out with Theodore, trying to kill Castiel. And when it was discovered that he couldn't be, they were sent back and put on extra guard.

The men continued to talk, and Dean focused back in.

"Yeah, whatever that thing was, Theodore has gotta know it's capable of killing us all. We gotta hope it didn't track any of us down when we were running back."

"But there's still a bunch of us out there looking for it, it could follow them back."

"Theodore won't let that happen."

Suddenly, there was more commotion outside, and the men gasped.

"He's back," one of them said, sounding a bit nervous.

"Let's meet him, find out what happened."

They hurried away and Dean stood up, backing away from the window. He needed to hurry. Theodore was back now and once things got settled, he had to leave this body and go possess the man before he could do any more harm.

_Sammy hey, Theodore's back. And these guys were talking about Castiel. They think that they probably lost track of him for good._

_The more I think about Cas...why wouldn't he follow them? He's so powerful and it's not like they can hurt him._

_Well, his angel mojo is mostly cut off, maybe he can actually get injured and it takes him some time to heal?_ Dean suggested.

_You're probably right. Hopefully he finds his way over here. In the meantime, I have some news that might help you. Eliza told me that her friend knew she loved birds. Is there anything that has birds on it in that house? She may have left a note there._

Dean lit the candle once more and began scouring the room. There was a picture hanging up of a farmhouse that had a few birds on it, but he checked the entire back of the frame and came up with nothing.

Sighing in frustration, he checked the second bedroom and the bathroom to no avail. He quickly looked through the living room, nearly giving up before he saw something on the TV entertainment center.

There were a few small ceramic decorations placed on top and one of them was a blue bird. Flipping it over, he saw that the bird was hollow and inside it, was a folded piece of paper.

He almost ripped it in his haste to get it out, but finally retrieved it in one piece. It was folded several times over, Dean almost couldn't believe she had been able to fold it into such a small size.

Flattening it out, he lay down on the floor, out of view of the window and placed the candle close by so he could read the hastily scrawled writing.

_'I hope you're the one to find this Eliza and not someone else. I shouldn't risk your life this way, but I figure there's a good chance you'll find this. At least, I hope._

_I tried to be careful, but he saw us. I know he did. I only probably have about an hour until nightfall, and then he's going to come kill me and Justin. I can only pray that he doesn't assume you were in on this too._

_We finally were able to sneak into his basement. Eliza, I've never seen anything so horrific and confusing. He had people in cages with black eyes...demons...and in other cages...Croats. He ended up coming down and we were able to hide. What we saw...I don't even know if I understand it. He had a new demon he dragged down and placed it in a cage with a croat, letting the thing bite the demon once. Then he put the demon in the cage with the other demons and began taking notes. The demon it...it started screaming as if it were in pain and eventually...it died._

_I saw demons get bit by Croats, they couldn't get infected. But this...this demon did. Whatever Theodore is doing to the Croats, the demons can get infected in a way that doesn't turn them, but kills them._

_You have to get out before this continues. If he can do something like this, who knows what he's capable of or what he's planning. Eliza, please please find a way to get out, to get others out, make our deaths worth something._

_I'll miss you dear friend.'_

_Dean. Hey, hey you with me? Did you find it?_

Dean vaguely realized that Sam was talking to him, and had been probably been trying to gain his attention for the past minute or so. He took a moment to wrap his thoughts around the absurdity of the message and what it all meant.

_Yeah, yeah. I found it. And you won't believe what it says._

He read this message again, this time he shared the entire thing with Sam. He could picture his brother's face as he read along, how Sam's disbelief would turn into worry and then fright.

When he finished, he didn't say anything for a moment, and neither did Sam. They were both thinking this through, figuring out what all of this meant. It was a lot to take in.

_He...Theodore...he was the one helping Eve with mutating the Croats?_

_Looks that way. So it wasn't Alastair like I thought. It makes sense, why would Alastair want to mutate the Croats so that they could kill his kind?_

_So Theodore is a monster then?_ Sam asked, assuming.

Dean thought about that. _I don't think so. I mean, I kinda have a knack for picking up stuff like that. I can sense it, like way back when I knew that old lady was a ghoul. And from this guy's memory, it seems Theodore ate and slept like a normal person. I think he was just...probably a really smart and messed up dude, who worked in the medical field or a chemist, some shit like that, and Eve easily convinced him to work for her._

_So why even make a town then? Why bother with all these people if all he wanted to do was mutate Croats? There has to be a reason..._

Dean pondered his brother's thoughts. Sam was right. This made everything much more complicated. Theodore might be crazy as they initially assumed, but there was more to him than they ever thought. Why make a town and force people to have children...

It dawned on Dean suddenly and the realization even frightened _him_.

_Sammy...he's keeping them here and having them reproduce for Eve. So she can turn them all into monsters. She's wiping out demons and humans so all that's left is her kind._

It was smart, gathering together a town of clueless survivors under a strict rule, creating more humans so she could have as many monsters as possible. Who knew if she had other towns across the world where she was doing the same thing under people like Theodore?

_Oh my god Dean…remember how Eliza said she heard Theodore talking about someone coming to the town? That he needed to get ready for them? It's Eve...it has to be._

Sam was right yet again. It all was making sense now. They had to get out of here…and fast.

If he failed to rescue Aiden and kill Theodore, Eve would show up and they had no idea how to kill her.

Dean couldn't afford to screw up their plan, and he couldn't waste another second.

_Don't worry Sammy, we'll be out of here before daybreak . Theodore's body and an empty town will be waiting for Eve when she gets here._

If only he was as confident as he made himself sound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Please take a minute or two to let me know your thoughts, it really helps and encourages me when I know your opinions of the chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Back with a new chapter. Thanks so much for reading and to Gabi for her advice and beta work!
> 
> We left off with Dean possessing one of Theodore's minions and finding out enough information to rescue Aiden.

Dean dumped the asshole's body out in an alley, with his pants pulled down, just for good measure.

He slowly made his way through the town in cloud form, trying to stick to the shadows. He could see that Theodore had arrived back, and he was pissed. The man was barking commands at his followers, which were all too busy scurrying to their leader's beck and call to notice a dark cloud floating around.

This was probably the only time he was glad Theodore was around as Dean was easily able to get to the building where Aiden was being kept. He could have gone in using the body he had possessed, but Dean had wanted to get out of it as soon as possible. He also wasn't sure what awaited him inside, and it would be easier to sneak around in the building in his smoke-soul form. The only problem was that now he wouldn't be able to talk to Aiden and there was a good chance the kid wouldn't know it was him.

Dean entered the building through a side window. It seemed to be served as the town's small recreation area before Croats ruled the Earth. He kept low to the ground, noticing that there was a man slumped over on a couch near the main entry. He considered possessing the man but thought better of it, since it could possibly create more hassle than necessary.

Dean just had to hope his plan worked and he wasn't giving Aiden too much credit in believing he would understand and follow along.

Keeping away from the guard, he floated down the hall, trying to find the area that served as a gym. When he had possessed the abusive husband earlier, he had seen through his memories that the kids were sleeping in the gym and it had been set up as a bunkhouse.

He came upon the closed gym doors easily enough and slipped through the cracks. It was nearly pitch black inside, with curtains drawn over most of the windows, serving to have him blend in easily. It didn't matter much though, as all the boys seemed to be sleeping. He just had to find which bunk Aiden was sleeping on.

It didn't take long. Luckily, Aiden was on a bottom bunk so there could be a quieter and easier escape. But still, if Aiden yelled or freaked out before Dean could silence him, it wouldn't matter and they'd be screwed anyway.

Aiden had seen Dean's smoke cloud before in the hotel when Sam had set him free so he could mess around. He had a habit of zapping Aiden on the tip of the nose, something that had made the kid burst out giggling every time, so hopefully he would recognize the action now.

_Here goes nothing..._

Trying to create some wind in hope that it would be enough to wake the kid up, Dean whooshed around Aiden's face. The young boy stirred a bit and Dean went faster, causing Aiden to rub his eyes and blink.

At first nothing happened. Aiden stared at Dean's smoke cloud as if confused, and then his mouth opened and his eyes widened in horror...

Dean quickly and gently zapped him on the nose before he could scream.

Aiden's mouth closed and he blinked a few more times. Dean took the opportunity to zap his nose again.

This time, the kid grinned, his eyes shining. "Dean!" he whispered happily.

Dean did a circle-spin to confirm it was him and Aiden's grin grew bigger.

Aiden looked back and forth quickly toward the other sleeping boys. "Dean, what do we do?" he whispered as quietly as possible, which Dean was glad for. At least the kid was smart when it came to keeping quiet.

Dean floated low to the ground, and began moving to where the bathroom was. Aiden immediately got up and followed, nearly tripping over himself in his haste to follow Dean.

"Aiden?" Dean heard the tired voice of another young boy who woke up from the sound of Aiden's stumble. "Where are you running to?"

Aiden paused, looking back to see Dean hovering by the bathroom door. "I really gotta pee, sorry," he said, and ran the remaining way to the bathroom.

Dean laughed to himself. He had to admit Aiden was at least quick thinking.

Finally in the bathroom, Aiden locked the door and turned on the dim light. "Dean!" he happily whispered, running into his smoke-cloud and attempting to hug him.

Being inside a demon smoke-cloud couldn't be the most comfortable feeling. Having that darkness around you...even Dean's, which was nothing compared to other demon's, didn't fill you with the best feelings. He was sure the only person that wouldn't be affected by doing this to him was Sam.

Aiden twitched a bit, much like Carl when he touched his smoke-soul. But also, just like the man had, Aiden smiled and seemed certain now that it was really Dean.

It was weird how they just somehow knew. Did his soul let out some kind of familiar presence of himself? Whatever. The important thing was that Aiden knew it was him and would hopefully be along for the possession.

Aiden pulled away and smiled at Dean. "You're here to save me, right Dean? These people are scary and they're telling us all lies! I knew you would come and rescue me!"

Dean bobbed up and down, hoping it resembled a nod.

"But...but...how come you didn't come in your body? And where's Sam? Is he okay?"

If Aiden didn't shut up, this wasn't going to go as smoothly as Dean had hoped.

Might as well do a backflip, Aiden might take that as a sign that Sam was indeed okay. Dean then floated right up to Aiden's mouth and stayed hovering there.

Aiden giggled quietly and swatted at Dean. "What are you doing, Dean?"

Dean went a little closer and sent a short and gentle zap to Aiden's lips.

"Hey!" Aiden was still laughing and took a step back. "That tickles!"

Dean did it again, and then once more. Aiden's face went from smiling to a confused expression.

"Are you trying to talk to me?" the young boy asked.

Dean backflipped again, zapping his mouth once more.

"But...but Dean...you don't have a mouth. How can you talk to me?"

Dean inwardly sighed and made his soul spark a few times before he continuously zapped Aiden's mouth again and again.

"Wait!" Aiden said, sounding excited. "You're trying to tell me something right now, right? You want to...you want to go in through my mouth like you do when you go back in your body? Is that...is that how you're gonna save me?

Finally! Dean did his backflip version of a nod but still stayed hovering, not yet possessing Aiden. He didn't feel comfortable with possessing a kid, let alone Aiden, without knowing they would be completely okay with it.

Aiden seemed confused at Dean's hesitance. "Come on Dean! Don't be scared! Take over my body so we can talk and you can protect me from any bad guys outside!"

That was all the assurance Dean needed as he slipped through Aiden's mouth and tried to make himself comfortable fitting into the small body. He felt Aiden's soul close to him and noticed how he seemed to tense and become a bit nervous.

_I'm not gonna hurt you Aiden, I'm just doing this so I can get you out of here as easily as possible._

Instantly, Dean felt Aiden relax. _Dean! I can hear you! Can you hear me? It's okay, I know you won't hurt me, it just feels really weird!_

_Tell me about it. I don't like this anymore than you. I hate body sharing. Listen, I'm gonna put your soul to sleep so you won't have to worry about anything or see anything I'm seeing. Got it?_

Dean could feel that Aiden was unhappy about this. _But...why? Do you have to? I want to stay awake with you! I don't want to sleep! Please Dean!_

The demon internally groaned, hoping that he was shielding it from Aiden from hearing it. He didn't have to put Aiden to sleep, but it would be easier. He was also worried about letting his mental defenses down and accidentally allowing the boy to see a piece of Hell or some of his demonic darkness. But Dean should be okay with keeping up that mental barrier...he was only going to be in Aiden's body for ten minutes, tops.

_Fine, fine! Just...keep quiet if we're in danger. I don't need you screwing up anything and messing up my concentration!_

_Okay! Oh...Dean...do I have super powers now? Can I make things fly?_

_No! I have super powers! Not you!_

_But my body does 'cuz you're in it, right? Can I make something fly? Please!_

_I just told you, it's not you! It's me! Only I can. Look..._ Dean lifted Aiden's hand and made the bar of soap fly through the air and smack them in the face.

 _Hey!_ Aiden complained. _Why'd you do that? Why...it didn't hurt! Wow! Dean this is SO cool!_

 _Shut up, this isn't all fun and games! Demon possession is NOT cool. The only reason you aren't in pain right now is because I'm not like the rest of those asshole demons and I'm protecting you from the dark demon shit that you'd be feeling right now!_ If Sam could hear him right now, he would yell at Dean for his language, but it wasn't like Aiden wasn't used to it by now.

 _Okay, sorry Dean._ Aiden sounded sad. _I just think you're really cool and I wanted to do somethin' you could. I know you don't use your super powers for mean things but I know all other demons are scary and use them to hurt people._

At least Aiden knew the difference, and for that Dean was pleased. _Okay, good. Now, we gotta get out of here. And you know what? I'm gonna teleport, so you're gonna get to do that too._

 _Really?_ Aiden's sadness was all but gone. _Dean, that will be so fun!_

_It will if it doesn't make you feel like you want to vomit. The first time I teleported with Sammy...well, let's just say the kid was just able to hold back puking up his lunch._

Dean opened up the bathroom door, feeling it was a fit time to move on now that Aiden was comfortable and happy. He stepped out of the bathroom and began moving closer to the door that led to the lobby.

If the guard was still sleeping, Dean could teleport into the lobby and from there, look through a window to see if anyone was patrolling the streets nearby. The last thing he wanted to do was to teleport straight into a group of Theodore's minions.

As he was distracted in thinking about his plan, he didn't hear the sound of soft footsteps from behind.

"Aiden? What are you doing?"

Dean spun around to see another young boy around Aiden's age staring at him and rubbing his eyes.

Freezing up, Dean suddenly found himself out of his element. He had to talk to a kid while pretending to be a kid...shit...

 _That's my friend!_ Aiden told him suddenly. _Don't worry Dean, he won't hurt you!_

_I wasn't scared of him Aiden!_

_I could feel you get scared Dean, it's okay!_

_I'm not...that's not why...shut up!_

Dean ignored Aiden and focused back on the tired kid. Maybe if he just didn't swear, he'd pass as a kid just fine.

He cleared his throat, trying to put on his best child-like voice. "Well, I was..." Dean stopped, freezing up. He had gone to make his voice more high pitched, forgetting that while in Aiden's body, there was no need for that as he was using the boy's vocal cords.

He had just sounded like a dying chipmunk. He could hear Aiden cracking up inside his head.

The boy standing across from him raised his eyebrow. "Are you choking or something?"

Dean cleared his throat again, talking normally this time. "Sorry. I wasn't feeling good. Was throwing up in there."

The disgusted face on the kid's face almost made Dean break character and burst out laughing. "Gross. That's why you were in there so long. Can you puke in the garbage next time? Other people gotta use the bathroom too, you know."

Dean shrugged. "Sorry. I'll do that next time."

The kid brushed past him, looking like the last thing he wanted to do was go into that bathroom that Aiden had supposedly thrown up in.

 _Dean!_ Aiden giggled. _Why did you..._

 _Not now Aiden, okay?_ Dean tried to keep the frustration out of his tone the best he could, which he knew wasn't much. _You gotta keep quiet so I can concentrate. You can yap all you want once you're safe with Sammy and I leave your body._

There was silence on the other end, so Dean took that as Aiden understanding and taking his role to keep quiet seriously. Hurrying back over to the door to the lobby, Dean made Aiden's body stand on his tip-toes to look out at the guard.

He was still sleeping at his desk post. Good. Dean used the opportunity to teleport into the lobby, stealthily making his way over to the windows and peering out onto the streets of the town.

A few guards walked by, holding flashlights and talking to themselves. Dean caught them mentioning Theodore who apparently was still giving orders to some of his minions.

Dean would have to hurry. Once Theodore was done with his orders, more men would be out on watch. Right now, most of them were probably huddled in one area, listening to the sick man bark orders.

Even though he didn't have much time to waste, he couldn't just teleport onto the streets and make a run for it. He had to wait for the guards to make some laps in order to understand the timing of their route.

Waiting for about five more minutes, Dean counted that the guards had gone by three times and had a very short path that they were set to. He needed to get his timing just right and not linger in one spot for long. He waited one more time for the guards to leave his line of vision...

"Hey! You!"

The guard stationed at the desk had now stood up, still looking tired, but quickly becoming more alert at the sight of an escaped boy.

Panicking, Dean realized he couldn't teleport outside right this second or the man would follow, causing havoc and making sure other people were looking for Aiden too.

He was about to kill him, holding up his hand when he changed his mind last second. He willed his powers to slam the man's head on the side of his desk, knocking him out, instead of snapping his neck like he wanted to.

Aiden gasped, seeming shocked. But it was a lot easier on him than what Dean had planned to do. The only reason he hadn't killed this man was because he was using Aiden's body. He didn't want that man's death to be on the kid's conscious. Even though it wouldn't have been Aiden killing him, it still would have been by his hands, his body. That would mess with someone for a long time. Dean only knew this because of what happened with Sammy after that bitch, Meg, possessed him.

Since the man saw Aiden, it would most likely cause problems if Dean didn't kill Theodore quickly enough. Knocking the guy out could prove to be risky. But what else could Dean do? Hopefully this was the best course of action he could have taken and it wouldn't have any negative repercussions.

Already cursing to himself for wasting time, Dean didn't wait any longer as he focused on a bush outside and teleported right behind it.

He immediately dropped to the ground, happy that Aiden was so small and easy to hide. Looking around quickly, Dean knew he needed to find another safe place to teleport that was a ways away. He didn't have much time, especially after the fiasco that happened inside. The guards would be coming back around the building in a few minutes. He needed to get out of this general area.

Of course there weren't any definite hiding places in sight. There were more bushes in the direction he needed to go, but they were in plain sight…shit…he was running out of time…

 _Dean,_ Aiden said suddenly. Dean was about to tell him to shut the hell up, and Aiden must have sensed this, because he quickly continued on. _There's a playground over there. To the left of me. Us. Sometimes we got to play on it if no one was bad. But we weren't really bad, we were…_

_Okay Aiden! Enough rambling! You can talk about all this shit later. I'm trying to find a place to hide because those guards are about to come around!_

_That's what I'm saying!_ Dean had to give Aiden credit for his sarcastic tone. _The playground has a tunnel on the jungle gym. Can you telemort there?_

If it were any other time, Dean would make fun of Aiden's miswording of 'teleport'. But now, he was just happy that the kid had been useful.

After looking around a few times, he saw no one by the jungle gym. The tunnel was in the middle of the structure, making it a perfect hiding spot.

He closed his eyes and a second later, was in the tunnel, lying on his stomach.

_You did it Dean! And I helped!_

They had some time to rest and gather their surroundings before teleporting again, so Dean allowed Aiden to talk. _Yeah, yeah you did. But for the record, next time you have an idea, get straight to the point without going into your stories._

_Sorry Dean. But did I do a good job?_

Dean rolled his eyes…or Aiden's eyes for that matter. He was about to make another rude sarcastic retort, when he remembered how little he was praised as a kid. Even at Aiden's age, his father was tough as hell on him, always claiming that Dean could do better. Dean had made it his goal to be different with Sammy, and that was probably why Sam grew up to be so much more confident than he had been. It was why his little brother believed in himself and was stubborn and strong. Sam hadn't gone to Stanford to betray their family, like his father led Dean to believe, but rather because he trusted Dean's words that he could do anything, that he was good enough.

He wasn't gonna get all encouraging to Aiden. He didn't think he remembered how to be that way. He wasn't even great at telling Sam, the only person he really cared about, how he felt about him. But the least he could do was let Aiden know he did something good.

_Yeah, you weren't half bad. I could use your eyes okay? So keep a lookout on the streets for another hiding spot and any guards. I think I can teleport once more before I'm in range of the house._

_Okay Dean! I'll help watch!_

After that happy statement, Aiden was silent, except for pointing out when a new guard walked into their line of vision. It was difficult to see since they had limited range inside the tunnel, but they couldn't risk leaving it to get a better view. No residents other than guards were allowed outside, especially not children.

After some time, Dean figured his best shot was trying to teleport into a backyard in one of the first rows of houses. It was possible that it was just outside of his teleportation limits, but they had no other choice. The houses were the safest bet. Guards wouldn't be looking in the backyards, and residents would most likely be sleeping.

If he did miss his projected target, all hell would break loose. He couldn't let that happen...he would screw this all up...

_Dean? You okay?_

It wasn't Aiden's voice, but Sam's. He could sense Aiden get excited at the sound of the younger Winchester's voice, but the kid was smart and kept quiet.

 _Sammy? Why are you..._ Sam had known not to contact him until Dean did first. They both agreed the only exception was if Sam was in an emergency. _Wait! Are you okay? Sammy..._

_Dean! I'm fine. You called out to me. Is everything okay over there?_

Oh. Dean felt embarrassed. He hadn't realized he had contacted his brother. He never meant to worry the kid.

But now that he heard Sam's voice, he felt himself relaxing. He could tell Sam what was going on. Maybe Sam could help.

_Actually, it might not be. I'm trying to teleport to my next safe location, but there's fucking guards all around. The safest spot is the backyard of a house, but I'm not sure if the distance is too far, especially in Aiden's body._

_Alright,_ Sam said, his voice sounding confident and sure. It was just what Dean wanted to hear but wouldn't admit. _It's okay. You've been teleporting more often lately. You'll be fine. And just in case, make sure the guards aren't near the house. You should only be off by a bit, maybe land in the front yard? Yeah, you should be able to quickly get in the backyard then._

Dean listened to Sam's words, feeling more confident. Sammy was right, he could do this.

Dean followed the guards' movements. There were quite a few of them around and he would have to time it perfectly in case he missed...

One...

Two...

Three...

Dean teleported, keeping his eyes and mind open in case he needed to run. But there wasn't a need for worry; he was in the backyard safely.

 _Sammy, I did it!_ Dean couldn't help but feel childishly happy. He'd blame it on sharing a body with a seven year old.

 _I told you!_ Sam's voice was all 'little brother' in that moment. _This proves I'm always right. Now hurry and get back here._

 _I'm almost there, hang on!_ Dean peered over the fence and could see the house they had gathered in. _Just in case, I need you to check for guards nearby._

He didn't really; he could make this distance just fine. But he wanted Sam to feel like he was helping, because he probably didn't realize how much he had helped just moments before.

_Coast is clear Dean, come on back._

Dean left the backyard and reappeared back in the house. He took a moment to look around and quickly his eyes landed on Sam, who was raising one eyebrow, yet smiling broadly.

"How's it feel to have the mind of a child? Oh wait, you already do..." Sam laughed.

Dean was pleasantly surprised that Sam reacted this way, that he didn't ask if Aiden was okay in there, he just knew that Dean was keeping him safe.

"Very funny asshat." Dean spoke in Aiden's pipsqueak voice, causing a chuckle from Sam. However, he couldn't wait to leave this body. He felt extremely uncomfortable and now that they were safe, Dean realized how drained he felt. "I'm smoking out, catch him."

With that, Dean left, letting Aiden fall into Sam's arms.

* * *

Sam caught the young boy as he fell. Aiden shook his head and rubbed his eyes, probably feeling disoriented. Sam could understand, it took a while to feel steady on his feet after his possession by Meg.

Although getting possessed by Dean had to be worlds different than what that evil bitch put him through. Sam was sure that Dean had made the 'ride' as comfortable as possible for Aiden.

"Sam!" Aiden smiled as soon as he gathered his surroundings. He threw himself in Sam's arms even tighter, clinging to him in a happy hug. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too Aiden," Sam told the boy with a smile, hugging him back. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm good, I had fun hanging out with Dean, he helped me get out! Can we leave this town now, it's creepy."

Sam chuckled quietly at Aiden referring to the possession as 'hanging out with Dean'. He had to remember to give Aiden a lecture on how possession wasn't fun. Dean probably had tried to do the same thing, but Aiden's excitement sometimes caused him to forget important morals.

"We can't leave yet Aiden, we have to stop Theodore from hurting anyone else." He paused before asking Aiden his next question and looked around the room.

Dean was floating anxiously in the middle of the room, keeping silent in Sam's mind for now. Heather was looking at Dean like she had after he rescued her from Alastair, like the hero that he was. Sadie, on the other hand was just smiling knowingly at Dean with less amazement, but more understanding and respect.

Sadie had always liked Dean, but Sam could tell something was different between them now. There was a pure trust from Sadie's end, just from the looks she was giving him, he could tell she must have seen a side of Dean that only Sam usually was able to. He felt a surge of pride towards his brother for apparently being able to open up to someone else, to let his defenses down as much as he could.

Sam turned his attention to the other woman in the room. Eliza's wide eyes kept moving from Dean's smoke-soul to his empty body and then to Aiden. She was in disbelief and Sam couldn't blame her. Dean had followed through on his promise to save Aiden. He had possessed the boy but left him completely unharmed. All Eliza had seen were demons killing and using their hosts to spread pain and terror. It had to be confusing to her.

Dean came over to hover over Sam. He didn't say anything, but Sam knew he was moving in order to be close to his brother. Dean did this whenever they were separated and then reunited, and especially if he was feeling uptight or anxious. Sam was positive that Dean was nervous about the ordeal that was about to take place with Theodore, and was taking comfort in being near his brother at the moment.

He just wished he could do more, that he could be there with Dean to help. But of course that was too dangerous. The only reason Dean was going to Theodore was because he'd be in smoke form and could easily get in, and also easily escape if something went wrong.

Please don't let anything go wrong.

Focusing on Aiden, who was still clutching at him, Sam gently pried him off and offered the young boy a kind smile.

"Aiden, Theodore was with you, right?" Sam figured that maybe Aiden could shed some extra light on the man, since he seemed to spend some time with the boys.

The young boy made a face. "Yeah , he was really weird. He told us about his town and how the rules were here. I didn't like them, Sam. They seemed like bad rules and he was creepy."

"Did he hurt you at all?"

Aiden shook his head. "No, but if you didn't listen to his rules, he'd lock you in a small room for a long time. I heard it was dark and the boys in there would cry and scream to get out."

From the corner of his eye, Sam saw Dean's soul spark in anger.

"Where was he taking you yesterday?" Sam asked, remembering Theodore leading the boys somewhere.

"He would take us over to another building, where some guy would teach us how to fight and stuff. It seemed like he was scared of Theodore. He was nice to us but he pretended to be mean when Theodore came in."

More proof that there were others who didn't want to be under Theodore's control and disagreed with his way. That was good. This man probably didn't teach the boys the violent type of fighting Theodore had wanted them to learn.

 _Sam, I should go._ Dean spoke through their connection. _Quicker I off him, the sooner we can get the hell outta here._

"Dean, no." Sam found himself speaking out loud because well, Dean was right there in front of him and he had no reason to keep his side of the conversation secret. "We don't know if Theodore is even back at his house yet."

_He's not, just a few minutes ago, I found out he's still yelling at his minions._

"Then wait. Give him some time to finish his speech and head back home. Wait until he relaxes and feels safe in the comfort of his own place. There's no reason to go out now."

_There's every reason to go out now! How am I going to know when Theodore is back home if I'm hiding in here? I need to get out there so I can find out when he goes back to his house._

Damnit, Dean had a point. It was better if he went now. "I...I know Dean. I just...Theodore obviously knows a lot about demons, he's working with Eve...it's dangerous and..." _And I'm worried. You just got back and now you're running into danger again._ Sam finished his speech to Dean through telepathy, sparing them both any embarrassment at Sam's sentimental words.

 _I'll be fine Sammy. I'll keep in contact._ Dean hovered over Sam's shoulders like he usually did in this form and then zapped him on the nose.

That was when someone burst out laughing. It was Heather, she was doubled over, tears in her eyes. Even Sadie's normally serious face broke into a grin; she was trying to hide her own laughter behind her hand.

"It's...it's..." Heather gasped in-between fits of laughter. "It's so funny...talking to a black cloud who's speaking but...not...and then..." Heather pointed at Dean wrapped round Sam's shoulders. "It's...you guys are so _cute_!"

Oh no, she used the dreaded 'cute' word. Sam smiled when Dean rushed over to Heather, continuously zapping her in what had to be the definition of tickling.

"Okay! Okay! Stop! I'll never say it again!" Heather's laughter was reaching on hysterics, tears in her eyes. Sadie's chuckles finally became audible, in which sent Dean attention on zapping her instead.

Aiden ran over to Sadie and Heather, asking Dean to 'tickle him next', all the while Eliza stood there, stunned, her mouth hanging open in awe.

Sam walked over to her. "You okay? Quite a bit to take in, huh?"

Eliza shook her head, coming out of her stupor. "He's like...he's like a big kid. And he saved that little boy. He's so...so different." She turned to look at Sam in the eyes. "Is he the only one that's like that?"

Sam found himself nodding. "There's a lot that goes into Dean being this way. He already knew about demons before he went to Hell, which had him prepared, he turned into a demon to protect me, and he got out of Hell much earlier than most. But I think the biggest thing is...he's got me. We have each other. No other demon has anything like that." Sam shrugged. "He's definitely dangerous though. But not to me, or you or anyone else that's good. He just...he has a drive to kill and inflict pain but...never to anyone innocent."

Eliza hummed in agreement. "He definitely has another side to him, that's for sure. It gives me hope."

"Don't go trusting other demons though," Sam warned her. "They're not..."

"No." Eliza interrupted. "I'm not talking about other demons. I would never believe any other one. I mean...it gives me hope that since there is one demon out there that can be good, at least in the ways that matter, then maybe humanity can too? Maybe we can band together to stop the 'Theodores' and other messed up people that emerged. There can be more good than bad."

Sam was about to say something encouraging and emotional, when Dean drifted on by and zapped Eliza once on the arm, causing her to yelp and then smile. He then went over onto his brother's shoulders once again; in what Sam was now guessing was Dean's version of a hug in this form.

 _Be back soon Sammy. Try not to get into any trouble while I'm gone, princess._ He hesitated for just a moment before Sam heard him speak again, quieter this time. _But really, don't worry, it will only be a few minutes. Stay safe._

With one final zap, he left the safety of the house and floated outside.

* * *

Dean kept to the shadows, darting around as quickly as possible in his search to find Theodore.

This should go quickly. All he had to do was find the asshole and then follow him until he got into his house. Simple enough….

Or…maybe it was best to get into Theodore's house first and snoop around. Then he'd already be inside his house and the possession could go even smoother.

Yep, that was what he was gonna do.

Dean knew what Theodore's house looked like and the general location from his earlier possession and the information he gained from that man's mind. He headed towards that area, easily picking out Theodore's house.

The house was on the end of a block, taking up the lot of at least three normal sized houses. It was two stories with pillars and ceramic dragon creatures on the lawn and an ugly old-style white metal fence with cameras attached to them.

He didn't even need to have the man's memories to know this was Theodore's house. It just screamed 'douchebag'.

Dean floated toward one of the cameras, keeping out of sight. He reached part of his soul out and sent an electrical current through the camera. The device sputtered before it sparked, smoke coming out of the sides. The current traveled to the other cameras, and Dean could sense them all overheat and break from the inside.

It wasn't like he really needed to do that; Theodore would be long gone before he got a chance to check his recordings. But still, he figured it was safe to do it just in case and well, it was fun. There wasn't much electricity left in the world, so when Dean found some, the opportunity to manipulate it was too good to pass up.

He let his thoughts wander as he floated over the gate and towards the front door of Theodore's house. If only he was a stronger demon, then he could permanently create electricity in a room, or even a house. But for now, all he could do was get it running for maybe fifteen minutes before it drained him of nearly all energy.

Maybe he'd be able to learn that skill eventually. After all, he had all the time in the world...literally.

Slipping into the house, Dean instantly became aware of the presence of demons. That was right...Theodore had demons and Croats in his basement that he was experimenting on.

He decided to float through the basement air ducts to check it out. The demons couldn't sense him, thanks to the charm on his soul, but they could still see him if he didn't stay hidden.

Arriving at a vent, he paused so he could see through. Sure enough, there were cages set up, some with demons in them and some with Croats. Dean could sense that the demons were actually scared. Their posture lacked any sort of hope or confidence and their souls were weak and dull. They had given up. Whatever Theodore was experimenting on the demons had the remaining ones fearful and accepting of their fate.

He took his attention off the cells and glanced around the rest of the room. If Theodore was experimenting with the Croatoan virus and altering its affects on demons...then he had to have...

Yes! There it was. Dean could see journals on a desk, a bunch of them. Who knew what kind of valuable information they contained? He needed to go back down here after Theodore was dead and he was in his body again. They needed to take those journals with them and really study the content inside.

Well, he saw enough here. He needed to get back upstairs in order to be ready for Theodore's arrival.

He searched around the house briefly, not finding anything too out of the ordinary until he entered Theodore's bedroom.

This guy just got weirder and weirder.

His bedroom was all decked out with marble sculptures. He had what looked like a pitchfork on a stand, which served as his coat rack. There was a creepy picture of some monstrous three-headed dog above his bed that put Dean on edge. At his desk, there was a giant chair made out of very dark wood, engraved with all sorts of weird markings.

The thing looked almost like a throne. Out of all the chairs in the world to use at his desk, that was the one he chose? Where the hell did he even find something like that?

A feeling of unease worked its way through Dean's soul. Damnit, he wished Sammy could see this…he might be able to help calm him down or figure out what some of these weird decorations might mean…

_Dean! What did you…did you just…I saw something!_

Sam's voice startled Dean. _What? What did you see? Is someone outside your house? What's going on?_

_No, no! I saw…I got a glimpse of the room you're in, I think. It was a little similar to a vision but not quite. How did you do that?_

_I…_ Dean was at loss for words. Did he really just share what he was seeing with Sam? If so, that was freaking awesome. _I'm not sure. This place is giving me the creeps and I was kinda wishing you could see it too so you could have a look around._

 _Well, whatever you did worked. Try it again and I'll focus this time and pay attention to what you're sending me._ Sam sounded excited and Dean used that to fuel his concentration.

He could do this…just needed to focus on the room and sending those sights out to Sam…just like he did when they talked…it should be…

Then he felt it. Something like a lock between their souls that told him Sam was seeing what he was seeing as well. Dean drifted around the room, keeping focus on one strange item at a time, and then spinning around in a circle slowly so Sam could get the whole view.

He wasn't sure if he could talk to Sam while sharing these sights, but now that he was confident Sam had seen everything he needed to, Dean decided to risk it.

_See the weird pitchfork thing? And this creepy chair?_

_Yeah._ Sam answered; the vision-connection wavered for a moment before latching back on. Once they got the hang of this and practiced, Dean was sure it would become second nature. _What I'm mostly concerned about is that picture._

_The freaky three-headed ugly dog?_

_Yeah…I've seen this before…I'm just not sure where._

_I'm guessing it's not a good feeling you're getting from it?_

_No. Not at all._ Sam's voice was anxious. _It's something bad…I know it…_

Dean was about to tell Sam to get his genius brain working in overdrive when he heard a door slam open downstairs.

 _Shit, Sammy he's back!_ He broke off the vision-sharing as he flew to hide in Theodore's dresser.

_Okay, okay! Don't do anything stupid. Dean, I wouldn't even try to possess him, just get out._

_I can't do that! I've gotta try._

_I have a feeling this guy is more than he's letting on!_ Sam told him, panicking.

_Well, there's one way to find out, or else we'll never know._

Dean waited a few minutes before the man finally arrived in the bedroom. From his small vantage point, Dean could see Theodore throw his coat of the pitchfork-looking thing before he walked out of sight. He could hear the chair scrapping against the wood floor and the sound of Theodore sitting down.

Then, Theodore began to ramble to himself…and it wasn't in English.

_Sammy, this guy is speaking some other language._

_To who?_

_Himself! He's just ranting to himself and I can't understand a word he's saying!_

_Can you…can you maybe focus in so I can hear what you're hearing too? I know a little bit of a handful of languages; maybe I can understand what he's saying a bit._

Sam's ability to understand some of foreign languages, or to just know what language people were speaking was an underrated skill in hunting that ended up helping them in several occasions. It would definitely help here, if Dean were able to share these sounds with Sam.

_Alright, I'm gonna try, give me a second._

He did his best to open up his mind and focus on what he was hearing in order to share it with Sam. The connection was felt once again, but it was weaker this time. Dean knew he didn't have much time before it broke, so he tried to catch every word Theodore was saying. Hopefully Sam was getting enough for him to understand….

Just like that, it broke and Dean felt his entire…being weakened. He needed to recharge before he tried anything like that again.

 _Well, anything?_ Dean asked, feeling lucky that talking to Sam required no energy at all anymore.

_Dean…oh my god. That's…I don't know what he was saying but I know for a fact that he's speaking Greek. And that…that picture…Dean the symbols….it all makes sense now. That three headed dog is a symbol of Hades._

_Hades? The god? You think this asshole is Hades?_ That was laughable! What was Sam thinking?

_Yes, Dean. I'm almost positive. It all is making sense now…having people follow him…shit…remember how Eliza said he felt stronger when more people believed in him? That's a whole concept of Hades! The more followers, the more powerful he became!_

_That's ridiculous. This is just some crazy man who loves Greek mythology. Why the hell would Hades work with Eve? I heard about this guy in Hell Sam! He was trapped down there after his Underworld fell apart._

_Wait, what?_ Sam gasped.

_Well, I don't know how true it all is, but after I became a demon and was allowed to wander around, I'd spy. I was trying to find info on Lilith but mostly I heard other random crap. There was a legend of Hades. I guess when people stopped believing in the Greek Gods, he lost a lot of power. Souls in his underworld kept escaping, and he wasn't gaining new ones since Hell was takin' them all in. Eventually Hell just…took over his realm and expanded, and Hades just became this powerless being that was trapped there._

_So he escaped then,_ Sam concluded.

_No! I mean, it sounded like he was really trapped there. And he hadn't been seen around for like, a thousand years or whatever. So everyone assumed he was dead. You think he just decided to pop out of wherever he was hiding and randomly work for Eve? Someone who was king of the underworld just working willingly with some mother of all monsters? A creature that he would consider to be beneath him?_

_If it could benefit him, yes._

_I'm still not sold on this, Sammy. There's one way to know for sure, and I gotta try to possess him._

_Dean, no! Don't…_

Dean didn't listen. He tuned his brother out and went for the final showdown. Sammy couldn't be right. There was no way….

He zoomed toward Theodore, who was unaware of anything, still ranting to himself and jotting down notes at his desk. Aiming for his mouth, Dean was confident he could…

The feeling of pain that reverberated throughout his soul was so intense, it felt like he was slamming into a brick wall going a hundred miles an hour.

It took him a moment to gather his surroundings, and when he did, he saw Theodore…or Hades…staring down at him, his face pure evil and full of rage. Dean didn't stick around to see what would happen next.

He flew out of there as fast as he could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for reading. Let me know what you thought if you have the time.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with the longest chapter I have ever written on any story! This chapter is 12.4k words long. I never expected the chapter to be this long, but the words kept coming. I hope everyone enjoys!
> 
> I want to thank both my friend Katie (KatieForestPelt) and my beta Gabi for going over this chapter with me. You both helped me out so much and really encouraged me!
> 
> The story left off with Dean finding out Theodore is really Hades and making his way back to Sam.

Sam was about to run out there and go find Dean himself when his brother quickly flew through the cracks below the front door. He immediately hovered over his body, soul sparking erratically. Sam forwent any questions, not wasting any time putting Dean back into his body.

Whatever happened, they all needed to hear this, and apparently Dean agreed.

The older Winchester stretched and opened his eyes to reveal their inky blackness. For once, he didn't make any sarcastic remark upon returning.

"Do you mind telling me what the hell you were thinking when you went to possess him?" Sam walked right in front of where Dean was sitting on the couch and folded his arms. "I _told you_ not to try it!"

"You mind giving me a damn minute to settle back into my body? This thing is still cold! I need to warm it up and get the organs working, been sitting out for too damn long!"

Sam continued standing there, glaring down at his brother as color returned to Dean's face and he seemed to be in full control of his body. How messed up were their lives where Dean restarting a dead body was normal and didn't make Sam think twice?

Sam cleared his throat as he began again. "Now, what possessed you to ignore me and ignorantly go in and risk your life against a god?"

Dean's face was completely stoic, shutting down any signs of what he was thinking. "Well, technically I wasn't possessing anything at that moment..."

"Dean, shut up and answer me seriously for once."

The older brother glared back up at him for a moment and Sam knew what he had to do next. He put the 'puppy dog eyes' in full force, trying to convey with all his might how worried he was for Dean, how devastated he'd be if anything had happened to him at Hades' hands.

Sam felt something slip mentally, and he realized too late that he had actually _said_ those things to Dean through telepathy. Shit, Dean was probably gonna call him out for being a sap and never give Sam a true answer...

He risked a look back at his brother and what he saw shocked him. Dean wasn't looking cocky or about to laugh. Instead, he looked...sad. And scared. It wasn't a look Sam had seen since after Dean had been captured by Alastair.

Something was wrong.

"I..." Dean started saying, losing any confidence his voice had held a few moments before. He looked over at the rest of their group uncomfortably and shifted on the couch. "I just...Sam...it was..."

Not being able to handle seeing Dean like this any longer, Sam tried to push away the feeling of his heart breaking and attempted to be the strong one in that moment.

He turned to the group. "Guys, I'm gonna talk to Dean privately, okay? We'll come back out and go over what happened with Theodore after."

Everyone seemed to understand. Even Dean, who seemed embarrassed as all hell, got up and followed Sam into the furthest bedroom without a word.

After the door was shut, Sam focused back on his dejected brother, who was sitting on the edge of the bed with his shoulders slumped.

"Hey, Dean. What's wrong?" He sat down next to the demon, who didn't turn to look at him, yet didn't move away. Sam did the best he could to keep anything that sounded like pity out of his voice, as that would insure Dean would never talk to Sam about any of this ever. Instead, he made sure to be clear he was voicing his concern, which in truth, was all there was.

Dean rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Sammy...man, I don't even know."

"Yes you do."

"No! I don't...not really..." Dean sounded frustrated, leading Sam to believe him.

"Then just work through it with me and we'll figure it out together," he said calmly, but not in a way where Dean would feel belittled.

"I fucked up and should have listened to you. I might have screwed everything up. I'm a dumbass and you were right. That what you want to hear?" Dean asked, his voice rough. He wasn't accusing Sam of anything, but rather himself, trying to put his defenses back up already.

Sam didn't buy into it. "Well, I did want to hear I was right and you understand what you did wrong, sure. But that's not the important thing. What's important is what's going on in your head...what made you make a decision like that."

"I don't...I just...I wanted it to all stop, okay?" Dean spluttered, as if he was coming to the realization himself.

"Wanted what to be over?" Sam kept his question simple.

"Just...everything!" Dean growled.

Sam felt his heart drop at those words and he suddenly felt dizzy and sick. No...no Dean couldn't mean that. It confirmed what Sam had been fearing once he realized Dean carelessly went in to attack Theodore. It proved that he didn't value his life. Sam had been trying to push that thought to the back of his mind and say that it was due to over-worrying for his big brother...but he had been right.

"You want to die?" Sam didn't bother to control the anger in his voice. "You didn't care if you lived or died?"

Dean tilted his head to the side, looking downright confused. "What the hell, Sam! Where did you make that up from?"

"You just said you wanted everything to end! You wanted your life to end! You don't value it and went to possess Theodore not caring if..."

"Woah, woah, slow the hell down. That's not what I meant. Come on Sammy, I thought you were smarter than that...I thought we understood each other better than that. I don't fucking want to die, not by a long shot. I didn't try and possess him because of that!"

"Then why, Dean? What do you want to be over?"

"By everything I mean...everything going on _here_! This stupid ass town! I just wanted to get out. I thought we'd be able to leave tonight. I...I knew you were right about him being a god but I didn't want to believe it. I was hoping that he was just a human after all and then we'd be on the road in a few hours."

"Why do you want it to be over so badly?" Sam asked patiently, trying to get to the root of the problem.

"Don't _you_ want it to be over? Isn't it obvious this place has gotta shut down ASAP?"

"You know I do. But there's something else that's bothering you about this place. Is it...is it how they rape people here?" As soon as Sam asked, Dean stiffened, confirming Sam's question. "It reminds you of Hell, doesn't it? Of what they did to 'me'?"

Dean was quiet for a moment before he started talking, in barely a whisper. "I try to ignore it. When I'm distracted and have a goal in mind, I forget, but when I saw Theodore..."

"It becomes overwhelming and puts you in a bad place...it brings you back there," Sam finished for him.

"Yeah. Whatever. When did you become some psychologist?"

Sam smiled sadly. "I was always the one who could connect with the victims, remember? Try and get emotionally on their level? This time there's just no acting involved at all, because it's _you_ that's suffering, Dean."

"I'm not...suffering, alright! It's just that...it's annoying! I mean, right from the get-go, Theodore reminded me of Alastair!"

Sam felt tears prick behind his eyes at that confession. Dean probably thought nothing of it, but Sam...he understood it for what it meant. Dean had been feeling scared and uncomfortable since the beginning with this man reminding him of his torturer. All the while the older brother had been pretending to be friends with him, pretending to be a scumbag rapist.

That had to be hell for Dean...and well...just like Hell...literally.

Sam swallowed past the lump in his throat. "Dean, don't kill me for what I'm about to say next but...I think you've got a case of PTSD and...certain things really trigger it."

When Dean didn't blow up in anger, Sam was surprised. Instead, the older brother looked confused and thoughtful, before finally nodding.

"Yeah, I guess that's reasonable." He shrugged. "Nice time to develop it, just when we need me to focus."

Shaking his head, Sam spoke before Dean could tear himself apart any more. "You didn't develop it just now. It's been something you've been suffering with, it just kind of…comes back or gets worse when there's something that reminds you of what you went through."

"Shouldn't I be completely out of my mind and some raging mess then?"

Sam smiled sadly , feeling for his brother. Dean was determined to believe there was something wrong with him. He was convinced any problems he may be dealing with made him weak.

"That's not how it works, it's different for everyone. Ignore what you saw in movies. And well…I'm sure demons react to it differently than humans."

"Yeah, I guess." Dean shrugged his good shoulder. "I knew there was a damn reason he reminded me of Alastair. Not just the way he runs this town but...he was a ruler of his own Hell, a master torturer himself." He turned to look Sam dead in the eyes. "Sammy, I'm not pretending to be one of his sick little minions anymore."

"You don't have to. We can stay away from him until we find a way to end him." Sam reassured his brother. He couldn't imagine how pretending to be a willing follower of Theodore had been messing with Dean's mind and wellbeing. "I'm sorry I even suggested the idea."

"Shut up Sam, it's not your fault. I agreed to the damn thing because I thought I could handle it."

"We _both_ decided it was the best course of action without thinking it through more. It's not your fault and it's not mine. It was just human error." Sam stressed his point, trying to get through to his self-conscious brother.

Dean raised an eyebrow at Sam's usage of the word 'human' but didn't say anything to counteract that statement. "We're both just screw ups then, huh?"

"Screw ups that are doing their best to save their friends and the world." Sam smiled.

Dean rolled his eyes before a maniacal grin overcame his features. "I can just _feel_ how badly you want to hug me right now, you almost can't contain it after such a sappy conversation. I guess I can suffer for a few seconds to make you happy."

Sam didn't even pretend to suppress his huff. Typical Dean, needing to end a serious conversation with something stupid. "Shut up, you jerk." He concentrated and reached out his powers to shove Dean off the bed.

Dean got right back up, smiling. He shoved past Sam, who had moved to open the door and join their friends. At the last second, he reached over and put a hand on Sam's shoulder.

"Thanks Sammy," he said, looking right into his brother's eyes for a moment, before pushing out his own powers to send Sam falling onto his butt.

True, he could have stopped Dean's powers, but upon hearing Dean's loud laughter, he knew he made the right choice in deciding to suffer with a bruised butt.

He'd get Dean back eventually, anyway.

As soon as Dean walked back into the living room, he stopped his laughter and put on his typical grouchy demon-scowl. It was time to get serious now, and this was no laughing matter.

Everyone was silent as the brothers sat next to each other on one of the couches, waiting for some news. Dean wasn't sure what to say, hoping Sam would take the lead.

Sadie did instead. "So, what happened?"

Dean shrugged. "I tried to possess him, I couldn't. So Sam was right, he is Hades."

"Hades?" Eliza gasped. "Croats and demons are one thing…even these monsters I've heard about. But…a god? I thought pagan gods were made up?"

"Basically everything you think is made up, is real." Dean sighed, getting impatient. "Everything except aliens."

"So how do we kill Hades? Let's get it done tonight." Sadie spoke, her posture displayed that she would do anything she could. She was ready to fight.

"I don't know! You think you can just go up and stab _Hades_ and that's it? He's dead?"

Sadie blinked, taken aback. It was obvious she hadn't realized that not every supernatural creature had an obvious weakness. She had expected the brothers to know everything. "Oh. You guys don't know anything?"

"We did face pagan gods before," Sam told her. "But they were nothing like Hades, remember Dean?"

Dean nodded at the unpleasant memory. "Yeah. That freaky Christmas couple with a knack for torture. Two no-name weak pagan gods that we could stab with a stake of wood to the heart. Hades? Yeah, right."

"Then what do we do?" Sadie seemed to be on the verge of panicking.

"I say we run," Dean deadpanned, being honest. Everyone turned to stare at him with different levels of disbelief.

"We have to save my people!" Eliza cried.

"We can't leave them here to die!" Heather complained.

Sadie shook her head. "We have to kill Theodore and his scumbags."

Aiden looked up at Dean, tears in his eyes. "Please Dean, we gotta save all my friends."

Dean turned to his brother for support, but one look at Sammy's stubborn face let Dean know he wasn't getting support from him either.

"Fine! Then what do we do? Sit here and die?"

"No." Sam stood up and began to pace. "Theodore...or Hades...he doesn't know the demon was you. He won't target us, especially with your bum arm. So we have time. All we have to do is buy us as much time as possible."

"Oh yeah? Buy time for what, Sammy? Eve's coming. We can't just sit here and hope we stay safe! We've gotta end him and his followers and scram!"

"Yes, we do. But we both forgot someone. Cas is looking for us, remember? He already took down some of Theodore's minions in the next town over. I'm betting he will get here tomorrow, and he has the angel blade! That's gotta kill Hades, right?"

Dean had to admit that he had forgotten about Cas. The angel was their only hope. But would the blade kill him? If not, Dean was sure it would at least weaken him enough that they could take him down.

"I get you, Sammy, but still...sitting around and doing nothing..."

"It's all we can do, Dean. But just because we're not fighting, doesn't mean we can't do anything. We have to rally up the good people of the town and let them know what's going on."

"I can help with that," Eliza piped in.

"Good, thank you. The people who are capable of fighting….we can ask them to join us. I'm sure Hades' minions will try and defend him as soon as Cas gets here so we can use all the help we can get." Sam paused for a minute, considering their options. "The other people who aren't strong enough, or don't want to fight, we can try and gather them up someplace safe."

Dean scoffed. "Yeah, like where? He'd notice." He knew Sam wanted to keep the citizens as safe as possible, but... "Why do we need to gather them up in one location anyway? That's stupid. They're just fine and safe in their houses. Just tell em to lock their doors and not to come out until the chaos is over."

Sam scratched his head. "Yeah, I'm overthinking this. As long as they stay put when Cas shows up, they'll be fine."

Dean began to think this might be easier than he expected, when he suddenly remembered something. "There's this thing we gotta take care of after the battle is over Sammy."

The hopeful look on Sam's face vanished. "Oh god, what?"

"Our buddy Hades has demons locked up in his basement. Two of them. Along with Croats. He was conducting experiments on them…who knows what kinda information he has down there with the mutations he cooked up."

"We have to blow it up!" Sadie jumped up, re-entering the conversation.

Dean shrugged his good shoulder. "Hey, I love explosions as much as the next demon, but I don't think we've got explosives on us." He smirked at Sadie. "I can burn the place down, but I saw a journal that is probably full of information. We gotta take that in case it could be useful."

"A journal?" Sam sounded excited. "Who knows what information it contains on the virus! Maybe we could make an antidote with it!"

"Woah, woah, don't get too excited there, Sammy-boy. This is a demonic virus, there _is_ no antidote. But we could find out a vaccine to possibly keep people from turning."

The smile never left Sam's face. "Yeah. No matter what the way is...we can help, I'm sure of it."

"Maybe one day kids can grow up without as much fear...society can rebuild!" Heather smiled from where she sat, hugging Aiden. The poor boy sat in the woman's lap, seeming confused by the conversation but trying to follow the best he could.

Eliza remained standing awkwardly in the corner of the room, and Dean bet she thought they were all crazy. Sadie was still on the couch, arms folded. Dean raised an eyebrow at the young woman.

"What's your problem? Even I can admit this is some good news."

"We don't even know what kind of information is in his journal or if anything will help. Yes, I want to get it, but we need to make sure we can get out of here first." She looked Dean in the eyes, worried. "Are you sure he doesn't know it was you? That he isn't going to burst in here any moment and take you away?"

"He has no way of knowing it's me, he's probably thinking that it could be anyone in the town. If he assumed it was me, he'd already be in here, shooting me with iron bullets."

Sadie slumped down on the couch. "You're right, I just...everything has gone wrong so far with our escape plan...I'm just expecting this to go wrong too."

Sam went to sit next to Sadie. Thank goodness, because Dean had no idea how to handle this situation.

"Hey, not everything went bad." Sam smiled at her. "We all found each other, we're alive and we're stronger as a group. We'll get out of this."

Dean couldn't help it, the opportunity was too good. "Hey Sam?"

"Yeah?" Sam looked up at him as if Dean was going to say something inspirational.

Stupid Sammy, that was never Dean's style.

"Hold me...that was beautiful."

And that even got Sadie to laugh.

* * *

They had gone back to their respective houses before waking up the next day, wondering if Theodore would keep the same schedule with breakfast and act as if all was normal.

Dean walked to Sam and Heather's house, trying to keep an eye out, but at the same time, not act too suspicious. They had told Sadie to continue to stay at the house, not only to continue on with the 'obeying wife' story but to keep watch over Aiden as well.

"I hope Cas shows up soon," Sam sighed as they walked toward the dining house.

Dean could agree with that. "Hell, I don't know what's taking him so damn long."

"He already tried attacking Hades once obviously, and had to realize that he wasn't human, that's why he backed off," Sam rambled. "He's probably waiting for the right moment or formulating a plan."

"Well he better formulate pretty damn quickly. It's only a matter of time before Hades tries to test out every single person here to see if they're possessed."

"What if he tests you before Castiel shows up?" Heather asked quietly, her voice shaking.

"He's not gonna get me. If he does, I'll fight him off. Plus..." Dean reached over and slapped Sam on the side of the head. "I've got this sasquatch looking out for me."

Sam shoved Dean's hand away but the comment had the effect Dean wanted once the younger brother ducked his head down and smiled. "I won't let anything happen to you." His voice was strong.

"I know you won't, that's why..." Dean paused when he noticed someone walking up to the three of them out of the corner of his eye.

It was Eliza. She kept her stride at a casual walking pace as she approached them. She turned her head to look at them, smiling as if she were telling a joke.

"I've been able to tell about six people of our plan to take down Theodore and about your friend coming. I told them to be prepared to fight. They are going to share the information with others and hope the word spreads."

"That's about all we can do," Sam told her. "Do they have weapons to defend themselves?"

"Many of them were able to scavenge a few things over their time here, in case they needed to use it in an emergency. My neighbor said he has quite the collection hidden away and will distribute the weapons as best he can."

"Good," Dean grunted. "Now scram. He might be watching and we don't want him thinking we made friends so quickly after getting here. He'll think it's suspicious."

Eliza nodded and walked to the left, approaching someone else, who seemed to be a close friend.

Pleased that the plan was going well so far, Dean let his thoughts wander as he sat next to his brother at the table for breakfast.

This was going to work. Cas would bust in here and take down Hades with his angel blade-thing. Even if Cas didn't show up until later, Hades was probably way too worried about the demon to try and schmooze Dean over to his side like he had yesterday.

This meant he wouldn't have to play up the 'abusive asshole man' any longer, and Dean felt himself sag in relief. Sam hadn't been wrong when he said Dean probably had a case of PTSD.

That knowledge should piss him off, but instead, he was happy to know there was a name to what he was feeling…there was a reason for it. He had started worrying that maybe he was going crazy or going to become unstable one day, but now….now that he knew what was going on, he could manage it. The fact that Sam knew about it was a blessing… _heh_ …because his brother would be able to recognize the signs and help Dean out and get him to relax.

Maybe in this instance he could accept his brother's help without throwing a bitch-fit about it.

"Hey." The voice startled Dean, causing him to choke on whatever the hell type of bland food he had just put in his mouth.

Sam chuckled beside him and gave Dean a few hard whacks on the back to get the food lodged in his throat free.

Once he spit out the bit of…scrambled egg…Dean turned toward the source of the voice. It was the woman who had talked to them yesterday in the dining hall. Her husband stood behind her, looking hopeful.

"Are you guys really going to take down Theodore for good?" she asked, eyes wide.

"We are," Sam answered her. "Our friend is close by…he was who Theodore was fighting last night. He's close by and we think he's going to make his move sometime today."

The woman looked around before she spoke next, her voice low. "You know…there have been several assassination attempts in the past. Theodore tries to cover them up but someone would find out and let us all know. None of them…none of them have been successful, even though they should have been."

"He was never even seen injured," the husband supplied.

"Eliza told me it's because…he's not human." She seemed wary. "She told me you guys could back that up."

"He's _not_ human," Dean told them. "And neither is our friend, that's how he's gonna stop him."

"Your friend isn't? He's not what Theodore is…"

"He's an angel," Sam jumped in. "And Theodore is…I don't know if you'll believe me, but he's a Greek god…"

"Hades, in fact." Dean grinned.

"It's all true," Heather butted in from beside them. "And we want to help stop it."

The wife and husband stared at each other before shaking their heads in awe. "I want to tell you you're crazy," the woman said. "But with everything else that's happened, it's not impossible. I'll believe it."

"Good, it's either believe us or end up dead. You gotta be prepared to fight or stay safe in your house with your kids," Dean told them and turned back around. He caught Sam giving him that weird small little smile he did now and then. It was the confusing one he never understood. "What?" he barked at his brother.

"Nothing, nothing." Sam shook his head, still smiling.

Dean thought about questioning Sam on it some more when the doors to the hall burst open and a man came running through, yelling.

"A kid is missing! He's missing and possessed by a demon! It was probably the same one that…" He paused, covering his mouth with his hands as he realized his mistake.

Theodore emerged from the corner of the room at the same moment everyone began panicking. So he _had_ been here the whole time, quietly watching from the shadows for anyone possessed by a demon.

"Possessed? What is he talking about?" someone yelled.

"What happened to the child?"

"Are we under attack?"

The man had just revealed that demons could possess people...putting the whole theory about demon-syndrome in danger. Not only that, but the townspeople also had to worry about a missing child...they knew they weren't safe.

Dean couldn't help but feel a little bit eager with anticipation on what Hades was going to do to the man, but the pagan god just shoved him aside roughly and walked to the front of the room.

"Everyone RELAX!" He bellowed, his voice carried and it became obvious to Dean from the way his voice carried, that this was no human.

The room fell deathly quiet despite the terror that hung thick in the air. Hades cleared his throat and began to speak. "It seems as if we are under attack, but there is no need to panic. Possessed is an inaccurate term. The virus spreads by use of black smoke emitting from the diseased person's mouth into another host.. In rare cases, the old host dies, which is where the possession similarity is concerned."

He paused as he took in the faces of the frightened townspeople.

"There is a cloud of the virus somewhere in this town. It spread to that child...and most likely left the young boy dead when it left his body...last night...it tried to spread to me."

Many of the people in the dining room gasped, the speech having the dramatic input Hades obviously wanted.

Dean nudged Sam stealthily. _Of course he finds a way to avoid a rebellion and get everyone to believe him._

 _He's good at this._ Sam agreed. _There's a reason this town believes him. He's very charismatic and the more people who believe...the stronger and more confident he gets._

They stopped talking as the room quieted down and Theodore continued. "We have to work together to keep a lookout for anyone infected by demon-syndrome. The virus is looking for a strong host to infect, which is why it was going after me, but it could jump to anyone on the way. Don't panic, the infection won't get far, as we will be able to kill the host before any mayhem can start. I'm ordering all supply runs canceled, and everyone is to stay in the town. There is no reason to worry, this will be over before the day is done."

And with that, Theodore stepped away and exited the building… he got his message across and left no room for argument.

 _Should we try and follow him?_ Sam asked. The room around them became full of frantic voices. If Sam hadn't used his mind-talk, Dean doubted he would have been able to hear his brother over the noise.

_Nah, we don't want to risk it. He's probably just screaming at his minions to keep a look out._

_Why assume Aiden is dead though?_

_Why not? What demon in his right mind would leave a host alive that could give away valuable information if it's plan failed? Besides, most demons burn through kids quickly anyway._

The look on Sam's face was that of pure anguish. _Yeah, I guess so. We should help out Eliza, maybe help get the weapons out from storage._

Dean understood Sam's need to go out and do something instead of sitting back. They both wanted the same thing, for very different reasons, but it was good enough.

After breakfast, Sam, Dean and Eliza's neighbor helped to smuggle a few weapons, keeping some to themselves and handing out others to the townspeople that were willing to fight. They gave themselves the guns, not wanting to use them unless absolutely necessary.

Eliza had been able to spread word around nicely. It was obvious that most of the good people in the town knew that a plan to take down Theodore was underway.

Since all supply runs and other activities were canceled, everyone was outside mingling on what appeared to be a rare day off for these people. It was the perfect opportunity for word to spread smoothly.

"But what about the demon virus he was talking about?" A lady was asking him and Sam. "If we stop Theodore, is the virus still going to try and infect us?"

"Demons aren't a virus," Dean told her gruffly. "They're souls that possess people, just like that minion said when he slipped up."

"And you don't have to worry about the demon," Sam added in. "The demon is trying to help, to stop Theodore, that's why he's so freaked out."

The woman seemed confused, but nodded. She walked over to a man and started whispering to him.

"Why even bother telling her that?" Dean asked.

"If the news about the truth about demons spreads, people will doubt him even more and he might become weaker. pagan gods thrive on the faith people have in them, it gives them power."

"Well look at you, being all smart." Dean whacked his brother on the back with pride. "Good thinking, Sammy."

Their good luck only lasted for half an hour before Eliza came running out to Sam and Dean, face flushed and panicked.

"They found the man you were possessing!" She whispered, breathing hard after running back from where she had been spying from.

"So?" Dean shrugged. "The guy has no idea that it was me, and he should be a drooling mess right now.

"He is! But Theodore ordered all his minions to leave him while he takes the man into a house to 'find out who the demon is'."

Dean looked at his brother, shaking his head. "There's no way he'd know who I am!"

"But this is Hades, Dean. He might have a way." Sam turned to Eliza. "Tell us what house he went into."

Eliza instructed them on where to go and the brothers took off, trying to sneakily make their way down the streets to the house.

 _I don't know what you're worried about, Sammy, I never shared my name with the guy and he's mentally unstable now, I made sure of it._ Dean honestly thought they were all overreacting.

_Hades has so much more knowledge than us. You're saying he was trapped in Hell with demons for years? He might find a way to discover it was you, and I'm not letting him hurt you._

Ahh, so that's what it was, Sammy being a protective little brother. Dean didn't like it; that was _his_ job.

_I'll be fine! Quit worrying about me! Why is everyone doing that?_

_Maybe because you're the one Hades is trying to kill! Ever think about that?_ Sam's voice was sharp and stern.

_Yeah, yeah. He won't get me. Quit your whining._

They continued the rest of the way to the house in silence, although Dean could practically feel Sam pouting. They spotted only a few minions on duty and easily avoided them.

When they reached the house, there weren't even guards outside of it. Whatever Hades was doing, he didn't even want to risk his followers seeing.

 _Come on, let's check the windows._ Dean told his brother, being careful to keep an eye out in case anyone were to walk by.

They peeked in several different windows before coming to the one that looked into the kitchen. Hades was inside with the man Dean had possessed, who was sitting on the ground, rocking back and forth.

Hades didn't pay him any attention. Instead, he was hovering over a bowl of some sort and chanting.

 _You recognize that?_ Dean asked.

_It's probably Greek again. But I have no idea what kind of ritual he is performing._

They didn't have to wait long to find out. Hades walked over to the man and placed his hand on his forehead while continuing to chant.

As soon as the chanting ended, the man screamed, his eyes literally melting out of his head. Again, Dean was reminded of Alastair, and he shook his head to clear his thoughts.

He had to focus.

The screaming didn't last long, and the now sightless man had stopped his rocking, standing up, as if waiting for a command.

"Show me," Hades demanded, switching back to English.

The man walked over to the kitchen table, placing his hand on it. At first nothing happened and then...

The man's hand erupted in fire, but he didn't scream this time. The fire spread out on the table in intricate designs...forming something...

Dean stared in awe at the scene in front of him, never seeing anything like it in all his years of hunting. He reached over and put a hand on Sam's arm, noticing the horrified look on his brother's face.

There was nothing he could say to calm his brother, everything would be a lie. He was just as confused and terrified as Sam.

Eventually, the man crumpled to the floor. The fire on his hand had extinguished, but the limb was left scorched. Theodore kicked the body aside, which seemed to be unresponsive, and stared at the table.

There, burned right into the wood, was Dean's face.

Dean backed away from the window, shaking his head. "No, no way. What the hell!"

Sam came out of his shock first, grabbing Dean by his shoulders. "Dean, we gotta go now! We gotta get you hidden!"

Dean shook out of his stupor. "Yeah...yeah...let's go."

Sam helped him up and they began to run back toward the center of town.

One moment, there was nothing but the road in front of them, the next, Hades was standing there with his arms folded.

"Well..." He smirked, holding his arms out wide. "How convenient. Just who I was looking for, although I suppose you already knew that."

Dean stepped in front of Sam, glaring the god down. "Yeah, we did know that, _Hades_."

Hades looked confused, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes at Dean. "How did you..."

Dean used that opportunity of slight distraction to grab onto his brother's arm and teleport them away.

They landed a few blocks away and Dean dragged Sam into the nearest empty house. They closed the door and immediately ran into the bedroom, where they laid on the floor behind the edge of the bed, hidden from view from both windows.

 _What the hell! What the hell! What do we do!_ Dean couldn't help freaking out. He didn't want to show weakness in front of his brother, but they had never planned on this. And with what they saw Hades do to that man...who knew what else he was capable of.

 _I...you can teleport us out…_ Even Sam couldn't keep the uncertainty out of his voice.

_That won't work! He could be anywhere and we'd teleport right in front of him!_

_Okay, okay...let's just...let's just wait here okay? I don't think he saw us come in this house. If we just wait here until Cas comes..._

It wasn't what either of them wanted, but it was essentially the only option.

 _What if he goes after Heather?_ Dean asked. They had told the woman where they were going, but never instructed her to hide. She'd be easily accessible for Hades to capture.

Sam didn't respond for a few moments. _If he does, he'll make sure to let us know he's got her. He'll announce it. And then, we'll have to decide what to do._

Dean didn't say anything back to that. What was there to say? What the hell would they do if it came down to that?

Why was he even questioning this? Of course he should just let her die in order to keep their asses safe!

They lay there in silence as the minutes ticked by. As intense as this situation was, Dean found himself taking comfort in the fact that Sam was right beside him. As much as he had regretted allowing Sam to come along, he was glad he was here now.

The sound of the floor creaking was heard from the living room. Dean shared a look with his brother and they pulled out their weapons, slowly walking toward the closed bedroom door.

Before they could reach it, the floor flew open, startling them both. Hades stood in the living room with his back to them, staring out one of the windows.

"Was wondering when you'd realize I was here."

"What...How did you...," Dean started to say.

"I can teleport too, you know. Saw you two run in here, not very clever are you? You should have teleported at least a few more times to throw me off."

Upon hearing that, Dean did the only thing he could think of. He grabbed Sam again, ready to teleport but...

Nothing happened.

"What the hell did you do to me!" Dean bellowed, aiming his gun at the god even though he knew it was pointless.

"You?" Hades finally turned around, smiling. "Oh, I did nothing to you, or your other demon friend. I simply took the time to ward this house while you two were cowering in the other room. No way to use any powers. And if you manage to sneak out, my followers have been alerted and are waiting outside. You two are trapped, so you may as well talk."

This was the enchantment that Alastair had used, back in the library. The same spell that took away his powers and demonic strength.

Just fucking great.

"Oh yeah, that sounds like good old fun. We're just gonna chat with the guy that's gonna kill us. Yeah, right," Dean scoffed, shaking his head.

"If you give me the information I want, I'll make your deaths nice and short. Believe me, I know how to drag out a death, make it nice and painful, even for demons."

 _He thinks I'm a demon too._ Sam pointed out. Apparently Hades cutting off his powers didn't lead to breaking that connection he had with Sam.

_Not that it matters, we're screwed either way. I say we drag out this convo as long as we can and hope to hell Cas gets here quick._

"Okay. I'll play your game. What do you want to know?" Dean asked, making sure to keep Sam between him and Hades.

Hades raised an eyebrow at the way Dean was protecting Sam, but didn't question it. "Your arm, how did you fake the injury. I felt it, it was broken in two places."

"That's because it is broken," Dean seethed.

"And how did you manage that?"

"Got stabbed with some weapon that injures demons." Dean crossed his good arm over his other protectively. "Next question?"

"Sassy little thing aren't you?" Hades raised an eyebrow "No matter. Tell me how you hid your essence from me. I can view a demon's true soul but you two...I couldn't sense it at all."

"We have our ways," Dean spat.

"You know that's not the answer I'm looking for."

"A ritual," Sam spoke up. "Some kind of spell. We don't know exactly how it was done. We didn't do it."

"Aha, so you do speak. Are you sure that's okay, without your master's permission?" Hades tilted his head toward Dean.

"He's not my damn slave, you bastard!" Dean growled, he was getting worked up, exactly what he shouldn't be doing in this situation. But damn it...when someone made assumptions like that about Sammy...

"Then what is he? Your lover? Your second in command?" Hades stared at Dean's scowling face. "I take it that's a 'no'. Whatever it is, you care for him...you both care for each other. This is interesting...I must report this..."

"To Eve?" Dean interjected, once again seeming to shock Hades. "Why would she care about us? Why the Hell are you working for her, anyway?"

Hades marched toward Dean, grabbing him by the shirt and shaking him. "How the hell do you know this?"

"You know she's just gonna betray you anyway, right? Just like she did with Alastair. She's using you...I sure thought a creature as great as you wouldn't fall for something so stupid..."

Dean didn't get to finish, as Hades pulled out a dagger and embedded it into Dean's stomach. As soon as it tore through his skin, he knew it wasn't any ordinary dagger, it was iron and the pain was excruciating.

He screamed, his skin was sizzling, and he fought to push away from the pagan god.

"DEAN!" Sam yelled, his voice muffled in the older brother's pain-filled mind.

In an instant, the pain subsided, and Dean felt himself being thrown away from Hades and right...right into Sam's arms. Sam had pulled Dean toward him with his powers.

Dean blinked back into focus and saw Hades staring at them in shock, completely befuddled.

"You." He pointed at Dean, his voice growing angry. "Dean...huh? Dean Winchester I presume. And you..." He turned his attention to Sam. "You're no demon if your powers worked in this house...you must be the freak brother, Sam." Hades scowl turned into a sickening grin. "I just hit the jackpot! Come on in, boys!"

The house was suddenly flooded by at least a dozen on Hades' minions. Dean fought and yelled, trying to protect Sam and pulling out the remaining knife he had on him.

But he was still weak from the iron and without his demonic strength. He was only able to get in a few slashes before Hades knocked the knife away and he was pinned down by the minions. Dean hissed as one of the men pulled the sling free from his bad arm and twisted it behind his back. The pain was so intense, he hardly felt the iron handcuffs being shackled on. That was it, he was done for.

A tugging sensation brought Dean out of his woes and he immediately knew what it was. Sam was attempting to pull his soul free. Yes! He could slip out of the house then and go get help!

He was nearly halfway out of his body, his smoke-soul floating into the air, when Hades noticed.

"How can he do that with...it's him! It's the other one! Hurry, knock him out!"

A loud thump was heard and Dean was violently thrust back into his body. He coughed, his vision swimming before focusing back in...looking for Sam...

Sam was slouched over, his head hanging down, blood dripping from his forehead.

"SAMMY!" Dean screamed and thrashed, all to no avail. Hades started laughing, a sound full of enjoyment that just fueled Dean's rage even further.

"Take that one to my house. Put him in the empty cell," Hades ordered, referring to Sam.

"But the demon?" A man questioned, looking over at Dean's feral face in fear.

"He's confined, he's no worry. I'll take care of him but first...he's coming to town hall with me...it's time the people know that the threat has been captured."

Sam felt like he was stuck underwater. His limbs were heavy and it was difficult to get enough air into his lungs without passing out. But he knew he couldn't let himself blackout...no...he had to fight through. He had to get back to something...

"SAMMY!"

The yell was distant, but it was clear who the voice came from. It was Dean...Dean was in trouble...he needed to get back to Dean.

After a few more minutes of focusing, Sam was able to crack open his eyes. He was being dragged by two burly men. He should be able to take them down quickly enough, but not now while they were outside where Hades or other minions might hear the commotion. He had to wait until these men took him wherever it was they were taking him, and go in for the surprise attack.

However, the more awake Sam became, the more aware of his situation he was. He quickly realized that he was handcuffed and that...that was going to put a big damper in his escape plans.

But he still had to do it. He could manage to escape. He had to, for Dean.

The men continued to drag him and Sam did his best to remain limp and appear unconscious. After what felt like hours, he felt himself being hauled into a house and then down a flight of stairs. He had to fight not to grimace or groan when his legs hit the steps roughly.

Finally, he was tossed to the ground and he heard the guys begin to dig through some drawers.

"Where does he keep the keys to the cells again?" one of the men asked.

"I think it's in this drawer over..."

"GAHHH!"

The noise startled Sam so much his eyes flew open. Luckily, the men weren't looking at him, but at a person in a cell who was screaming.

No...not a person. A demon...Sam could feel it. This must be Theodore's basement...his lab that Dean was talking about.

He really wanted to contact Dean and let him know what was going on, but Sam felt like he was only at half strength. Trying to use his telepathy right now might take away too much concentration at the moment, and he needed to be alert to attempt to take out these men in a few seconds.

"Shut up you hell-spawn!" One of the men walked over to the cell and started taunting the demon. "You're not going anywhere, you..."

Sam tuned the man out and focused on the other, scooting forward silently. If he could kick out his legs and trip the man, he could possibly get the upper hand and knock him out by using his feet...then it would be a wrestling match with the other one...

Deciding to go for it and hope for the best, Sam slid his leg out, preparing to jump into action...

Apparently though he was too loud, because before he connected with the man's legs, he turned around, glaring at Sam and dodging his attack.

"Nice try." The man smirked and then lunged at Sam.

The younger Winchester did his best to fight off the man's attacks, but without the element of surprise, he stood no chance with his hands handcuffed behind his back.

He took the punches without crying out in pain, and was able to dodge a good few and get a headbutt in, before the other man ran up to his comrade and pulled him off of Sam.

"Whoah! Chill out, man! Theo said we gotta keep him alive, remember?"

"He tried to attack me!"

"So what? What can he do with his hands behind his back?"

"He's the brother of a demon, though! Why even keep him alive?"

Demon... _demon_...Sam's eyes widened as an idea suddenly formed in his mind. There were two demons in this room...two demons that he could set free...demons that he could send to Hell if they got out of control...

It was risky...but it was his only shot.

Sam closed his eyes and tuned out the arguing men. He focused on the two damned souls who were sparking with a furious energy.

It was simple enough to pull the souls out of the bodies. Sam opened his eyes to see the demon clouds floating in the air, outside of the cells. It was at that moment when the men noticed, mouths hanging open in horror and shock. One pushed the other down to try and escape.

Sam let go of the demons. In a matter of seconds the men were screaming as they were both possessed. Pushing himself up to his feet, Sam focused on the two demons, holding them in place.

"Give me the keys," he ordered. "Or I'll send you right back to Hell."

The demons didn't even argue, the one to the right pulled out the keys and tossed them on the desk. Sam awkwardly grabbed them behind his back and uncuffed himself, all while keeping the demons from moving.

Once free, Sam stretched his arms and looked the demons right in the eyes. "Your hosts?" he asked, motioning to the bodies the demons had vacated back in the cells.

The demons shrugged carelessly and one of them laughed. "After what Hades put us through, those things didn't stand a chance."

Sam tried to bite down the anger over the fact that those people could have been saved. If it were Dean, he would have completely healed the bodies. "You can go ahead and attack Hades and all his minions. But if you lay a hand on any innocent person, you know where you'll be heading."

"We know better than to get you angry after what you did to Lilith, Boy King," the demon to the left said.

"Don't!" Sam pointed at the demon, mentally squeezing its soul. The power caused a sharp flash of pain through the demon's host, making it gasp. "Don't call me that. I want nothing to do with any of you. The only reason you aren't in Hell right now is because you're useful."

"That's why you're BFFs with your demon brother." The other demon chuckled, his voice had been quiet, but not quite enough.

Sam pulled at its soul, slowly dragging it out of the body...

"Okay! Okay!" It yelled, choking. Sam let go and the demon doubled over, panting. "We know, we know! You hate all demons besides your weird demon-with-feelings brother! We were just messing with you, come on! It's what we do!"

"Then go." Sam growled. "Go and help take care of the assholes in this town and leave. Make sure my brother gets free of Hades. Then I'll let you go, as long as you leave this area and never come back."

"Trust us, we're moving to the other damn side of the planet after all this."

With that, Sam let the demons go. He was glad he managed to be convincing enough, because he had no intention of letting those demons go free.

Turning his attention back to the lab, Sam realized he couldn't risk Hades getting back here with Dean. Once he felt threatened, this was the first place he'd run to.

Sam needed to burn it down.

But before that, he grabbed the opened journal on the desk, hoping it was the one Dean had mentioned, and several other notes and papers scattered about. He shoved them all into his jacket pockets and then quickly focused on finding something flammable….maybe something explosive as well.

He better make this quick, he had a brother to get back to.

Gathering together all of his energy and concentration even though he was still feeling weak, he focused in on his telepathy.

_Don't worry Dean, I'm okay, I'm coming._

Dean snarled and pulled against Hades, who was dragging him down the street toward the center of town. His bad arm burned every time he struggled, but he tried to push past it. He had to get away.

"There you go, finally acting like a proper demon."

"I'll show you a proper demon once I get out of here and slaughter all your minions!"

"Yes, that would be a fine display of your evil tendencies, you should have done it while you had the chance."

Dean stopped snarling, changing his tactic. "Why even lie about what demons were anyway? Why make up the stupid story about it being another strain of the virus?"

"To keep them calm of course, which you had to go and ruin," Hades answered, continuing to drag Dean along as he did so.

"Keep them calm from what?"

"I needed demons to experiment on. If they knew demons were only possessed humans, they would demand the demon to be exorcised. If they believed they were infected well…they had no problem giving the demons over to me to 'kill'. Only my most trusted followers knew the truth." Hades turned back to look at Dean, grinning. "And now, after finding you, Eve will promote me to a bigger city, and I will grow even stronger."

"Then what the hell are you gonna do with this town? Why force all the women to get pregnant?"

"She was coming tomorrow anyway to change all of these people into her children, to transform the babies and young ones into fresh, willing monsters. You do know that changing them young works the best? Young minds are the easiest to manipulate. Now along with her children, she will arrive to discover I have left her you to kill, and your brother to change."

"You're going to have her turn my brother into a monster?" Dean felt his fury rising, but couldn't help but laugh. "Good luck at that, he's not gonna allow that to happen."

"Your brother can apparently control demons, but he can't control me, and especially not Eve. He will stand no chance. Why, he's already locked in a cell in my basement right now!"

Dean tugged at Hades' grasp as hard as he could, to no avail. "You son of a bitch!" The strain he was putting on his broken arm sent waves of pain up through his neck, but he didn't care.

He knew that the impact that had knocked Sam out wouldn't last for long. With Dean's blood in his system, Sam was stronger. He recovered from injuries a lot quicker. Sam was probably awake right now and managed to avoid being thrown in a cell…but still, just the thought of it was enough to have him boiling with rage.

Dean tried to reach out to Sam, but he could feel the connection fizzle before it reached his brother. Sam must be too weak to fully link into his telepathy and trying to recover...Dean refused to believe that it was because Sam was still knocked out and locked in a cell.

"You better change those eyes of yours for the show I'm about to display." Hades' growl pulled Dean from his thoughts. "I want them all to know the threat has been captured."

"And if I don't?" Dean growled, his voice deeper than usual.

"Then little brother gets a Croat put into his cell."

Again, it probably wouldn't happen, but the threat had Dean flicking his eyes back to their normal black. The change didn't help to recede the headache that had been forming, like it usually did. Dean was just too stressed and angry to relax, and the tension would only get worse until he knew Sammy was safe and they were out of this town.

Finally, they arrived at the center of the town. The people that were scattered about began to gather around, whispering and gasping. Dean kept his head down and eyes closed so the people couldn't see. It was best to buy himself as much time as possible.

Dean was dragged up to the podium Hades had stood at the other day when he introduced them all to the town. Once they were both standing on it, Hades shoved Dean down, causing him to fall in a heap at the god's feet.

"There is no reason to worry anymore," Hades announced in a proud voice. "I have determined who is infected with the demon virus and captured them. They are now prevented from spreading it to anyone else."

Hades grabbed Dean by the hair and tilted his head up. Reluctantly, Dean opened his eyes to reveal the demon-black that was bound to shock the townspeople.

It did. There were gasps and screams, and the people began talking amongst each other in fear. One woman even fainted.

Whatever monologue Hades had been about to say was cut off by Eliza pushing her way to the front of the crowd and pointing at Hades.

"You're a damn liar. You always have been. Demons aren't a virus, they're souls."

Hades balked at her accusation, at loss for words. Before he could order one of his minions to capture her, someone else spoke up.

"Yeah, the virus never made sense. And this guy was helping us; he was helping us fight against you!"

Thank goodness Eliza had been able to spread the word. Dean noticed a few people pull out their weapons. Hades' minions did as well, just waiting for the word to attack.

"It's true I lied about demons being a virus. But it was only to protect you all about the knowledge of them. How would you feel if I told you this man really has a demon possessing him, controlling and destroying the real soul inside?"

Hades had a good comeback, but Eliza had one as well.

"Except he isn't possessing anyone. That was his human body, and there's no one else inside. I've talked to him, he's helped me. He didn't hurt anyone."

One of the townspeople ended up jumping on stage and the minions immediately flanked him. While Hades was busy dealing with that, Dean positioned himself so he was at least sitting on his ass and spoke out to the crowd.

"I came here because this asshole and his followers took some of my people. Once I found out what he was planning on doing to them, me and my brother decided to try and take him down. None of that was a lie, we want to…"

Dean was shoved to the ground once again. Hades stood above him with the iron blade held to his throat. "Shut. The Hell. Up. Or this is going into your eye."

Hades then turned to address the riled-up crowd, who was looking to be more and more on Dean's side. "Don't listen to him! He will make up any lie in order to get you to follow him."

"Kind of like what you have been doing?" A man asked. "Why would you threaten him with a knife if he was telling the truth?!"

"We know what you've been doing to the women of this town!" Another man spoke.

"That demon helped me!"

Everyone turned to face the woman who had spoken…it was the wife of the asshole husband who Dean had possessed.

"Theodore is lying, it isn't a virus. He possessed my husband who was abusing me, but the demon never hurt me. He was angry at what he was doing to me and said he'd never get the chance to hurt me again."

That seemed to be the encouragement the rest of the people needed. The ones who didn't have weapons fled to their houses, while the rest pulled knives, blades, and other melee weapons from their pockets.

"Where did you get those?" Hades asked, and Dean could feel something change. He sounded lost for the first time…and maybe even scared.

Then it clicked. The people didn't believe in him any longer. He was becoming weaker.

Hades minions drew out their guns and swords, and Dean realized that these people might not stand any chance against their stronger weapons.

But before anyone could attack, the air changed around them. Dean recognized it immediately for what it was, but the humans didn't notice the change until it was right on top of them.

Demons.

Two burly men were approaching just outside the crowd. They raised their guns at two of Hades' minions, and fired.

_Don't worry Dean, I'm okay, I'm coming._

Sam's voice was like music to Dean's ears, but he needed to find out what the hell was going on.

_Sam, I'm okay. But where are you? Are you okay? There are demons over here with guns! What the hell is…_

_Don't worry, I'm fine. I was taken to Hades' house and those demons were the ones that were trapped in the cells. I used them to escape and I told them to go out and get their revenge on the followers and Hades. I don't think they'll hurt anyone else but I had no other choice…_

_Sammy, it was perfect. I'll let the people know what's going on._

The townspeople began to back up, frightened and confused at the appearance of the two of Hades' minions shooting their comrades. Since the demons weren't showing their black eyes, the people had no idea what was going on.

"They're demons! They possessed his followers and are here to take Hades down too! Just stay out of their way and fight back against the others!" Dean yelled out to them, raising his voice as much as he could.

The people did as told, raising their weapons and screaming as they went in for the attack.

Dean looked to his right to see that one of the demons was tumbling around on the ground with Hades in a fist fight.

The god really was becoming weaker.

Dean struggled to his feet, but managed to stand up. He ran past Hades and the demon, hands still tied behind his back. As he left the podium, he saw the other demon about to walk past him in order to also attack Hades.

Dean stood in front of the demon, glowering at it. "If you even laid a finger on my brother..."

The demon just huffed and pushed past him. "Yeah, as if I'm stupid enough to do that," it grunted, jumping into the fight with the pagan god.

Dean ignored what was going on around him and started awkwardly running to find Sam. Once Hades' base came into view, he picked up his speed.

He wasn't able to come within a hundred yards of the house though, as several explosions went off, and the house burst into flames.

"SAMMY!" Dean fell to his knees in horror. He had to calm down. Maybe this had been Sam's doing. If he could relax enough to try and contact Sam, he could find out.

A hand touched his back, and right away, he knew it wasn't his brother. Hades lifted him up by his shirt collar and got right in his face.

"What. Did you. Do?" He ground his teeth, holding the iron blade up in the air to stab Dean in the eye once more. A hit that wouldn't be fatal, but would take away the sight in that eye for good.

"It wasn't him, asshole. It was me."

Dean twisted his head as much as he could to see Sam standing between them and the fiery base with a gun raised and pointed at Hades.

"Dean, get down!"

Dean pulled with all his might and used his legs to kick Hades in the stomach, managing to free himself and land on the ground.

The god dropped his knife and drew out a gun...

Or at least he tried to. Sam was faster. The bullet hit him right between the eyes.

Sam didn't wait to see Hades hit the floor, as he was already running toward Dean. "Hey, hey, you okay?"

"I'm fine. That...that was you?" He tried to gesture toward the flaming house with his head.

Sam smiled. "Yeah. I knew if he still had you, he'd try to take you back to that base so I had to get rid of it. Plus, blowing the place up gets rid of all his spells and whatever else he had in there."

"What about the journal?" Dean asked. Damnit, it would have been nice to have that...

"I got it, don't worry. Now come on, I don't know how much longer we have until he wakes up." Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out a paperclip he must have taken from Hades' base. Within a few moments, he had the handcuffs off of Dean.

"Nice thinking, Sammy," Dean praised his brother. He could feel the pain in his wrists subsiding already. His bad arm was still throbbing though, so he had to try and not move it much.

"Learned from the best." Sam helped Dean up and they began to run back into the heart of the town. "Were you able to coax a revolution?"

"Of course I was. Now let's go join that party! I'm missing out on all the fun."

"Hey, wait Dean, hold on," Sam said after a minute of running. He held out his hand to stop Dean in his tracks. "Look, look at that!"

Dean followed where his brother was pointing and saw Castiel and Allen walking into town. Several guards were dead near the entrance and Cas had his angel blade in hand.

Fucking finally!

"You go tell him what's going on," Dean told his brother. "And help him keep a lookout for Hades, he's bound to come back here."

"And what are you going to do?" Sam asked.

Silly Sammy should already know the answer. Dean grinned wickedly. "I'm gonna go slaughter some assholes."

Sam ran off toward Cas. He was a bit worried about his brother, but he knew Dean would be able to handle controlling his violent urges and not lose himself. Dean needed this fight to unleash all the tension that had been building up since they had reunited with Allen.

Speaking of Allen, Sam wondered how he had met up with Cas, but he was glad he had. Now they were all together and just had to find Bobby and the others.

But first, they had Hades to take care of.

"Sam," Castiel called out as he approached. "I had hoped you would not be here."

"Wait, you didn't know we were here?" For some reason, Sam hadn't thought of that. He assumed Cas had known and was trying to rescue them.

"No, but I had a feeling that many of our group might be, since the town we were to meet at had been taken over. When I stopped there, I became surrounded and fought off the people who were attempting to kill me. They came back with reinforcements as I attempted to find their camp, and that is when I noticed their leader was Hades."

"You can just tell it's him just by looking at him?"

"Yes. I am sorry I could not kill him the first time. It took me some time to find this town, then I found Allen and we were able to find the location."

Sam appreciated the way Castiel always went in depth about everything, but now was not the time. "Thank you. Do you think the blade can kill him?"

"It can kill nearly any being."

"Okay, great." Sam looked back toward the massive group of people who were fighting. Bodies lined the ground, both innocent citizens and Hades' followers. "Now let's not draw attention to ourselves and get in the battle. Hades is bound to show up and we have to take him by surprise."

As soon as they were in the center of the fight, Sam saw Dean running around, gleefully slicing into the hearts of Theodore's minions one-handed. Blood sprayed out and onto his face when Dean pulled the blade free, laughing as though he was watching a hilarious sitcom.

With all the other madness going on around them though, Dean didn't look too out of the ordinary.

Forcing his attention off of Dean, Sam focused on defending himself. One of Hades' followers came charging up to him, wielding a knife. Sam ducked out of the way, leading the man to run straight into Cas...and causing the angel blade to go right through his stomach.

Sam pulled out his gun, trying to find out which minions had guns as well. It was important to take out them first, if any remained.

As he shoved his way through the crowd, Sam saw Heather holding her own. He felt bad for leaving her, but at least she was fighting well...

But her skills wouldn't help her with what was about to happen next. From the corner of his eye, Sam saw a man aiming a gun at Heather from behind. He didn't even stop to think, he just raised his own weapon and shot the guy right in the forehead.

As the body fell, somewhere distantly in Sam's mind, he realized this was the second human he had killed since the outbreak began.

Instead of feeling shame, Sam felt it was surprisingly easy. In a world like this, you had to take down all the monsters, even the human ones...or end up dead yourself.

Heather spun around to look behind her, then caught Sam's eye. She smiled and waved her thanks.

It was funny how normal this had all become. Sam felt a growing sense of pride that his group would be able to get through anything.

Sam wan over to help a few people who were having a rough time taking down one of Hades' larger followers when he remembered the demons. He quickly focused in, locating that they were somewhere to his right and saw them taking turns bashing a man's face in.

They weren't attacking the innocents, at least not yet.

When he reached the people he went to help, he could see that a minion had Eliza pinned to the ground and was trying to go in to slice her throat. Another one was approaching her, and Sam took the opportunity to come from behind and stab the guy in the neck.

He turned back to the captive woman, but before he could move to help her, Dean materialized behind the man, sending his blade through the top of his skull, and then dragged it downwards, ripping through the man's throat.

Ouch.

Dean threw the body to the side and turned toward Sam, winking. Because he turned toward his brother, he didn't see that Hades had appeared behind him, again with that iron blade, and this time aiming for his head.

"Dean!" Sam pulled his brother forward with his powers, grabbing onto Dean's shirt and causing them both to fall to the ground. They landed in an awkward position with Sam sprawled out on top of Dean while Hades continued to walk forward, moving in to plow the knife right into Sam...

Suddenly a deafening scream emitted from Hades throat and a bright light burst from his stomach…where the angel blade was now embedded.

The blade was pulled free and Hades' body…or rather his host…toppled to the ground to reveal Castiel standing behind him.

"Thanks." Sam panted, trying to catch his breath. He went to turn to Dean, only to see that his brother was already grabbing his shoulders.

"Are you okay?" Dean voice was rough, and his face held that manic gaze that it always did when he was going on a killing spree. But he was mentally still here, he had managed not to fall back into that pit of darkness inside of him.

That was good, that was progress.

"Yeah, I'm fine, are you?"

Dean stood up. "Of course I am." He held out his hand to Castiel. "Give me that. I have something to take care of."

Castiel looked confused before he nodded. "The demons." He stated, handing over the blade to Dean.

Dean twirled the blade in his hand skillfully. "Come on Sammy, let's end this for good."

The first demon was completely oblivious to the brothers approaching, not even getting a chance to react when Sam held the demon in place and Dean sent the angel blade through it's heart.

The other demon jumped away from the body it was kicking. As soon as it saw its fallen comrade, it opened the mouth of its host, attempting to escape.

Sam focused and easily threw the demon's soul back into the host and prevented it from escaping. The thing glared at Sam in anger.

"You promised you'd leave us alone!"

"Thing is, we can never trust a monster. And you...you should know better to trust a Winchester. Thanks for your help though." Sam smiled at the demon snarkily and then nodded to his brother.

Dean sent the blade right through one if the demon's eyes, twisting it as the soul died out.

"The eye Dean, really?"

Dean casually wiped the blade on his pants, still looking a little too energized, but smiling. "I couldn't resist."

"Okay, but it's done..." Sam spotted Hades' host, dead on the ground and being kicked at by several townspeople. Most of the minions were also dead, with the remaining few being ambushed. "It really is done."

Sam reached over to place a hand on his brother's shoulder, squeezing. It was true that Dean hadn't been far gone and wasn't in danger of losing himself, but still...Sam wanted to help bring him back to normal as soon as he could.

"We did it. We can leave now, Dean; we can get out of here and put this all behind us."

Sam watched as Dean closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. After a moment, he opened them, his face much calmer and eyes focused.

"Yeah, let's get the hell out of here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you though if you have the time. This was a very intimidating chapter to write, but I had a lot of fun with it!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! Things have been crazy, I've had a lot of meetings at work for new projects and also got in a car accident. But everything is okay now!
> 
> I now believe this is my longest chapter written. I hope you all enjoy!
> 
> Thanks to my beta Gabi for looking over this chapter even though she had a busy week, and to my friend Katie for helping and encouraging me with this fic!
> 
> We left off with Hades defeated with the help of Cas and the brothers and their friends about to leave the town.

"Who the hell names a town Bird Island? It's not an island...there's not even a lake nearby!"

Sam sighed. Dean had been going on about the name of this town for the entire walk. "I don't know. Maybe because it's kind of in the middle of nowhere, it's thought of as being 'on an island of its own' and...there could have been a lot of birds in the area?"

"Stupid as hell name," Dean muttered to himself. "When we find our settlement, I'm giving it a fucking awesome name."

"And who said _you_ get to name our town?"

"Who's the strongest and most powerful of all of us? Oh yeah, me. That's reason in itself."

"Can you just shut up for once and look for the tents?"

Dean flipped Sam the middle finger but walked toward the back of the store.

Sam focused on the front of the building, looking for anything they might need while out in the wilderness.

He tried to let relief sink in since they were out of Hades' town, but Sam knew he couldn't afford to feel that until they were deep in a forest, hidden from Eve.

Sure, before they left the town, they had let the townspeople know they were heading north-east - lying to them in case Eve captured and interrogated them. He had suggested the people should start travelling south and stay away from big cities.

It hurt, in a way, to basically abandon the people of that town. But they couldn't afford to take them along; the massive group of people would only drag them down.

Eliza could help encourage them along their journey, and hopefully they could find somewhere safe to settle.

"Sammy, look what I found."

Sam followed his brother's voice and walked to the back of the hardware store. This store wasn't the best bet to find camping gear, but it was all they had. There had been an 'outdoor supplies store' east of Hades' town, but it had been located inside a decent-sized city. They hadn't wanted to risk it, so they traveled north instead, and decided to check out the smaller town of Bird Island.

"What?" Sam asked, finding his brother standing near a dusty shelf in the back of the store.

Dean stepped out of the way and waved his good arm at the shelf. "I present to you...our source of food."

Looking at the shelf, Sam grinned when he saw what his brother had found. "Seeds for farming, _awesome_."

"I know I am," Dean replied smugly. He started tossing packets of the seeds into his backpack.

"Why do they have a farming section in a hardware store?" Sam asked, helping Dean gather the packets.

"Who the hell cares? It's a small town, and a farming town; they probably used this store for more than one thing. All I care about is that we can use it to start our own farm."

"Any luck on finding a tent?" Sam asked.

"Nada. We might have to find a house to spend the night in."

"We can't afford that, though. We have to be somewhere she wouldn't look. Eve's bound to check all the nearby towns."

"Well, unless you want to spend the night on the muddy ground, I don't know what to tell you Sammy." Dean shrugged one shoulder. "It's probably gonna rain tonight by the looks of it. We should find some secluded cabin or farmhouse again."

"If we're even that lucky." Sam sighed.

"We'll figure something out, don't worry about it." Dean finished collecting the seed packets and smacked Sam on the arm. "I think we've got everything we need in here, let's go see what everyone else found."

They exited the hardware store, keeping an eye out for Croats even though they had come to the conclusion that this town had been cleared out by Hades' people. Scanning their surroundings, Sam noticed a grin appear on Dean's face.

"What?" he asked.

Dean pointed across the street at a small building. "Look at that. That's gotta be the tiniest library I've ever seen. Still, I bet you could find something that would interest that dorky brain of yours."

"We don't have time for me to be searching for books to read," Sam pointed out, although he appreciated Dean's effort.

"Just go. Let everyone else look for the important stuff for a change."

"They do just as much as us!"

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, go take a look. Nerd out for a bit or go search for some farming books or something that can help us. I'll keep guard out here."

Looking for books on farming _would_ help them. Maybe he would go take a look... "Fine. But I'll make it quick. And let me know if the others call for us."

"Will do, Sasquatch."

Sam rolled his eyes, but he was glad Dean seemed to be in a much better mood now that they were away from Hades' town. Sam felt better himself, but he refused to feel safe until they were in the middle of a forest.

How they were going to find their friends, Sam had no idea. There was always the blood-bowl demon call that someone could use to contact Dean. However, without knowing the correct chant for the spell, there would be no way for it to work. Sam knew that Bobby didn't know it by heart, and if he hadn't called already, that meant he didn't have his book with the spell in it.

He had to believe they would all find a way to meet up, though. There wasn't another option. There was no way he was leaving their friends behind.

Making his way to the nonfiction section, Sam searched for agricultural books. The small library was in decent shape; it didn't seem like it had been extensively looted, and most of the books were left dusty on the shelves.

He idly wondered what had happened to the people in this town, just like he did in all the other towns they had passed through. Had these people left for a safe haven? Had the virus taken them down one by one? Were any of them alive somewhere?

These thoughts didn't leave Sam as sad as they used to, but he still couldn't help but ponder on them. He had to believe that there were actual safe havens out there, not ruled by crazy pagan gods or demons. Humanity would find a way to survive, it always did.

After finding some books that seemed to be what he was looking for, Sam quickly headed over to the fiction section. However, he wasn't looking for books for himself, but rather for his brother. He hadn't forgotten how Dean had seemed immersed in the old-western themed book he found for him last month on one of their trips into Sioux Falls.

He found a few that he thought Dean might enjoy, some including zombies that were bound to get a laugh from the older Winchester, when he heard Dean's voice through their telepathy.

_Alright, hope you got your fill of nerdom, because the others are calling for us._

Sam stepped outside to see Heather, Sadie and Cas walking down the street toward them. Heather was beaming brightly and the other woman looked smug. Cas was carrying what looked to be a rather heavy and large bag.

"What the hell is that?" Dean asked, voicing the same question Sam had.

"Sadie found this in the garage in one of the houses," Castiel explained.

"Well that's just great, but still doesn't explain what it is." Dean huffed irritably.

"It's exactly what you were looking for, smart-ass," Sadie replied.

"A tent?" Dean perked up. "No way in Hell you found one before me."

"Dean, your jealousy is showing." Sam chuckled.

Dean pointed at Sam accusingly. "This is your fault! You're the one that insisted that we should check that stupid hardware store!"

Sam shrugged, trying not to laugh. "Hey, I thought it was our best bet. You know how long it may have taken to search all those houses and maybe not come out with a tent at all?"

"Well it didn't take so long for them!"

"Maybe I just like to see you lose," Sam smirked.

"You guys fight like first graders, " Sadie said, rolling her eyes. "Shut up and come follow us so you can help decide what we should take with us."

They walked down the main street of the town cautiously. It looked as if it was straight out of an 1800's western film. The town must have contained some of its original buildings; at least, the ones that were able to be renovated nicely. It was sad that they had stood the test of time but would now fall apart because of their abandonment.

Sadie and Heather led them to a house a few blocks off the main street. In the driveway, a decent-sized camper was parked.

"Ahh, now I see why you found tents so easily. Pick the house that has a camper." Dean made a _tsking_ noise and shook his head.

"Yeah, but the tents weren't even in the camper," Heather told them. "We almost didn't think to check in the garage."

"Did you guys find anything of use in the camper?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, actually…" Sadie climbed up into the trailer, coming out with a handful of things that looked like small bags made from fabric.

"You found bags?" Dean scoffed, coming to the same conclusion. "Congratulations. Those will come in _real_ handy."

Sam could tell that Sadie was about to retort something sarcastic when Heather stepped in. "They're sleeping bags. The kinds that can compress really small and be tied up. We'll be able to store these really easily!"

The way Heather vouched for Sadie, Sam really hoped they would become friends. They'd irritate each other for sure, but could balance each other out just like he and Dean did.

"Oh." Dean shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, I guess that's kinda cool."

"Great find," Sam smiled at the girls. "We can easily store these in our backpacks."

"Yeah, I already handed one out to everyone else, so you guys have to take yours." Sadie handed them their sleeping bags, which they put away. "Let's go inside. Allen is in the house with Aiden. He's going over the maps and trying to pick out a place we can camp tonight."

"Who gave him the authority to choose where we go?" Dean asked, wrinkling his nose in displeasure.

"No one," Sadie sighed. "I just asked him to do it so he could have something simple to do while watching Aiden. We'll decide together."

They followed the girls inside the house and into the kitchen. Allen stood over a couple of scattered maps, frowning, and Aiden was snooping in the lower cupboards. As soon as he saw the brothers, he ran right between them and hugged them both.

Allen looked up at their approach and nodded. "Hey. Find anything good?"

Sam appreciated that the man was no longer going out of his way to be cruel to Dean. He also was pleased with the way Allen had helped Cas find them when they were in Hades' town. Earlier on their journey out of town, Sam had told Allen as much, thanking him. Dean had only grunted his acknowledgement, but at least he hadn't made any sarcastic remarks.

Sam was starting to believe they would be able to tolerate each other. They'd never be friends, but having some kind of respect for the other would go a long way.

"Actually, we did. No tents, but maybe we can get by with the one Sadie found," Sam answered Allen's question.

"Oh, we will," Sadie chimed in. "This thing says it can fit 12 people. I doubt that, at least not comfortably, but all of us should be able to sleep in it just fine."

Sam considered it. There were seven of them; six adults and a child. Cas might not even be included in that equation, since from what Sam understood, he still didn't need sleep despite losing connection with heaven.

So they had their shelter, good. Now they just needed a place to hide out.

"So what did _you_ find?" Allen questioned, curious.

"Seeds to start our crops when we settle down somewhere," Dean answered. "And _I_ found them."

Allen looked surprised, like he didn't even consider that once they found a place, they needed to start from scratch. Sadie and Heather smiled, and Aiden cheered.

"Did you find strawberry seeds?" the young boy asked, clapping his hands in excitement.

"I don't know kid, I just threw them all in my bag." Dean shrugged.

"We can go through them later, once we set up the tent." Sam smiled at him.

"I've never been camping before!"

"Well let's hope your first experience doesn't involve getting eaten by Croats," Dean chuckled.

Sam smacked Dean hard over the side of his head and Aiden gasped, looking up at the demon in horror.

"But you said they didn't come in forests! You said, Dean!"

Dean continued to laugh. "I'm joking. Mostly. They don't really come into the forests but there might be a few stragglers. It's not going to be happy-go-lucky camping like you're expecting. We're gonna have to be quiet and keep a lookout."

"I can take over the lookout position," Castiel spoke up. "I do not sleep, so I could keep watch."

Sam liked this idea. If anyone would be able to capture the slightest noise or strange movement, it would be an angel. Cas seemed to take every task that he took on very seriously, and with his angel-blade, he could take down anything that tried to harm them.

"Good," Dean grunted. "That takes care of our problem of needing to wake someone up to keep watch. Now I can get a full-night's sleep!" _Plus, I don't think I could sleep in the same room with him again…_ Dean sent to Sam. Sam couldn't help but to agree, remembering that night in the motel over a year ago.

"Do you even need a full-night's sleep?" Allen asked. It didn't come across as harsh like before, but the man couldn't seem to let his comments go.

Luckily, Dean didn't seem to take an angry offense at Allen's question, although he did glare at the man irritably. "Probably not. But I feel better when I do. Do you really want to deal with me when I'm more grumpy than usual?"

Allen sighed. "No, I wouldn't. Anyway, I found this spot that might make for a good cover. It's not in a deep forest but it's away from any towns."

Sam looked over the map and focused on where Allen was pointing. He was right. The forest wasn't very large, but it looked dense, running along the same river they had traveled on before getting to Hades' town. The area of forest wasn't near any civilization but...

The distance to it looked far. Sam glanced down at the key on the map and tried to measure the distance with his fingers.

"That's...about 25 miles away. If we travel on a straight diagonal path, then maybe 20. It would take..." Sam mentally calculated some figures in his head. "Seven or eight hours to walk there. It's already seven right now. We don't want to be walking in the middle of the night."

"And we've already walked for five hours to get here…" Heather mentioned. "I don't think I have the energy to walk for that much longer."

Dean huffed and Sam could understand his frustration. As a demon, Dean didn't run out of energy like a typical person and he could hold off needing to sleep for some time. He wanted to keep going, but the rest of them were humans…they wouldn't be able to make it to the forest that Allen had suggested.

"Then what the hell do we do?" Dean asked, not holding the frustration out of his voice. "We can't stay here, Eve will find us. Do we just start walking and hope to find some random farmhouse that she wouldn't think to check?"

"A farmhouse would be too out in the open though, we need something where we would be hidden away," Sam told him.

"Well you just said the forest is too far!" Dean threw his good arm in the air.

"I know! I'm just pointing out the predicament we're in!" Sam shot back.

"We all know that! Enough stating the obvious and more finding a solution!"

Allen cleared his throat and both brothers stopped arguing to stare at the man.

"I thought we could just ride bikes." Allen smirked.

Dean opened and closed his mouth. Sam knew he was trying to fight back a snarky response to that, but he was failing. Neither of them had even considered riding bikes and it was the perfect idea. They were quiet and would cut the trip down by many hours.

Sam smiled. "That would be doable. It would probably only take a few hours."

"What if there aren't any bikes here!" Dean pointed at Allen, glowering.

"Nine out of ten of the houses I've checked have had them." The man never stopped smirking. He knew he had won and bested Dean in the decision-making department.

"Fine! Okay, we will take the bikes! They probably don't even have air in the tires though. It's been a year!"

"There are bicycle pumps. I saw them, too. In fact, this house has one."

Dean didn't even bother saying anything else to Allen, just turned around and went into the garage. "Come on Sammy, help me. We have to get going soon."

Sam rolled his eyes, trying to fight back the laughter that was bubbling up to the surface.

"You guys decide what direct path we should take, We'll choose the best bikes and get them ready."

* * *

Dean had to admit that the jerk Allen had a decent idea. They were making great headway on the bicycles. It was nearing sunset and they only had about half an hour to go, cutting through farmland to try and make it there quicker.

 _He still sleeping?_ Dean asked Sam, glancing over at his brother who was riding at his side.

Sam glanced over at the carrier attached to Dean's bike. _Yep, looks like it. I'm glad he's sleeping through the ride, the poor kid is probably so overwhelmed._

_Aren't we all?_

_Yeah, but he could be crying and complaining. He's just a kid and I wouldn't blame him. But he puts on a brave face and tries so hard not to be scared._

_Blah blah blah, I'm just glad he's quiet._

The carrier had been something that was necessary when Aiden had shyly admitted he didn't know how to ride a bike. They could have given him one with training wheels, but those were clunky and would cause a lot of noise.

They easily found a bike with a carrier attached, and Aiden had just managed to squeeze his small body inside. Of course he wanted to ride with Dean, and as much as he wanted to object, Dean gave in so the kid wouldn't burst into tears.

 _We're lucky Cas was actually able to ride a bike too._ Dean continued. _Guy is like a baby in a trench coat. Why does he still wear that that thing anyway?_

_I don't think it's the same trench coat actually. I think he picked out another that was similar._

_Okay, that's just weird._

_Maybe he feels attached to it in some way? But he is kinda weird, I'll admit that. What's that thing he said about being able to ride a bike again?_ Sam asked.

 _Oh, that was gold._ Dean chuckled, remembering what Castiel had said. _'I have a perfect center of gravity. Even though I have never ridden before, I will be able to balance the bicycle with ease.'_

 _Yeah, that was something else._ Sam joined in the laughter. _But good thing he can, I can't imagine finding a carrier big enough for him._

 _That's not even funny, I'd be the only one able to drag his ass around._ They laughed again and were silent for a few moments before Dean noticed how close the sun was to setting. _It's gonna get dark soon,_ Dean continued. _We might be lucky and have just enough light before we get to the forest._

_Yeah, I think we'll be..._

_Sam. Stop._ Dean cut his brother off, listening.

The brothers skidded to a halt, the rest of the group doing the same behind them.

"What is it?" Heather asked.

Dean turned around, glaring at her. "Shh!" he hissed, focusing back on the sound he had heard.

For the first minute, Dean didn't hear anything and he almost thought he had imagined the sound. But luckily, everyone stayed quiet. Even Sam didn't say anything through their telepathy, and Aiden was still sleeping. The silence allowed Dean to hear the noise again; a soft shuffle, and then a groan.

Dean spun his head around toward the direction of the sounds. They were surrounded by overgrown corn fields, and whoever...or whatever this was...could be anywhere.

 _Dean, I don't hear anything._ Sam's voice through their telepathy even came as a whisper, but still, it was distracting. Dean held his finger up to his lips, effectively shutting his brother up.

Everyone remained still; the only sound was that of the wind whistling through the dried-up corn stalks and crickets chirping away.

The groan came again, and this time Dean was sure it was a Croat. He swiveled around, noticing Castiel do the same, and glanced across the seemingly never-ending cornfields. He finally saw movement some hundred yards back.

Apparently, Sam did too. He stiffened and looked over at Dean.

"Let's go," he whispered, obviously wanting the others to hear of his plan as well.

Dean shook his head, looking at Sam like he was crazy. "No way, we're killing this thing!"

Sam reached over and grabbed Dean's arm. The older brother tried to tug away, but Sam held firm, probably tapping into his powers as well. Whatever Sam wanted to say, it had to be serious, so Dean resigned from fighting and listened to his brother.

"Dean, we don't need to. We can just keep going, it probably doesn't even know we're here."

"But what if it does!"

"Then we can easily outpace it on our bikes. Listen, if you were to go after it, who's to say it doesn't let out one of its shrieks? It could alert other Croats, and maybe even people or monsters that we are here."

Dean knew it was a longshot that other people or monsters would hear it, but it was possible. And Croats may definitely be lurking around. But still...despite him knowing it wasn't the best idea, he had this itch to just run out and go after it, to hunt and kill something...

He shouldn't be like this. It was only one Croat. He was usually better at controlling his urges by now...what the hell was wrong with him?

"Dean." Sam was staring at Dean's shaking hands, causing the older brother to hide them behind his back defensively. But Sam's expression didn't seem judgmental; in fact, he seemed to understand. "I think you're still coming down off that high from killing all those bastards back in Hades' town. It's okay to feel like you do, that's why you have me to talk you down."

Dean felt an instant sense of relief that there wasn't anything seriously wrong with him. He knew Sam was right as soon as the words left his mouth.

"Guess those book smarts actually do come in handy in the Croatpocalypse." Dean smirked, hoping Sam wouldn't continue on and make this a chick-flick moment.

No such luck; Sam saw Dean's comment for the thanks that it was and smiled. "That's what brothers are for, to stop each other from making stupid decisions. I've got your back."

Dean couldn't help the eye roll and groan that escaped from his lips. "Yeah, yeah, trust me, I know. I've had to help you out of endless stupid decisions. Now let's keep going." _And I've got your back too, Sammy, you know._

Sam grinned in his direction and then turned back to look at the rest of their group. "Let's stay as quiet as we possibly can and keep moving. Once we get far enough away from here, we're going to stop to drink some water and check the maps. I don't think we have much longer to go."

Dean grabbed onto the handlebar and used his powers to steady the other side before taking off. Sam had been worried that Dean wouldn't be able to ride, and didn't want him using his broken arm to help steer.

His powers were more helpful than Dean ever could have imagined. It was a good thing, too. In this world, any kind of injury or disability would slow someone down immensely…probably resulting in death. If not for his powers and strength, he'd definitely be screwed.

They rode for about ten minutes longer, before Sam motioned for them to pull over near a cluster of trees on the edge of a farm.

"Okay, let's get some water and check where we are." Sam motioned toward Dean, who had the bottles stored in his backpack.

"We only have four bottles filled," Dean muttered. He wasn't sure who was going to share, but he snatched one for Sam so he could have his own.

He walked away from the others so they could argue about the remaining water bottles and went over to his brother, who was kneeling on the grass, trying to peer at a map he had spread out.

"Hey," Dean said, plopping down next to his brother and handing him a water bottle. They really did need to make some more purified water, and more importantly, some more blood Kool-Aids for Sam. There was only one pre-made one left.

"Hey," Sam responded, never turning away from the map. "Don't worry about the water, there's a river and a creek close to the area where we will be spending the night."

"Okay, good. Where's it at?" Dean tried squinting at the map, but the setting sun and the shade from the trees was preventing him from reading it. "Dude, how the hell can you even see that?"

"I can't really, but I can't find the flashlight."

Dean sighed. "That's why you have me, built in flashlight, remember?" He opened his hand and allowed the flame to appear above it. It was a soft glow, but it was enough.

Sam grinned, shaking his head. "Why do we even need any tools or supplies to survive? Let's just ditch our backpacks, all we need is you."

"Hah, if it were only that easy." Dean brought his hand closer, but made sure it was far enough away that he wouldn't accidentally set the map on fire. "Okay, where are we headed?"

"Right over here." Sam pointed a short distance away, toward the river he mentioned. The area was covered with trees. It wasn't a huge forest, but Dean assumed it would be dense enough.

"Is that the same river we were following before we left the path to get to Hades' town?"

"Yeah, but we are far enough away from the town, and we'll be covered. I at least want us to cross the river though, so we're on the south side, which is the opposite side the town was on."

"Makes sense. Better chance of being safe by travelling on that side. Okay, how much longer until we get there?"

Sam glanced down at the key and measured the distance much like he did back in the house. "Okay...looks like we're only six and a half miles away."

"That's nothing! Damn, we made good time."

"We did. But six and a half miles will still take about half an hour to ride on bike."

Dean looked at the marks Sam made on the map. "Well, at least now we're on the road that leads straight to where we've gotta be."

"Dean, Sam..." The brothers turned around to see Aiden walking their way, rubbing his eyes with a water bottle in his hand. "Are we gonna be able to sleep soon?"

"Sleep? All you've been doing is sleeping the whole way here!" Dean shook his head.

"Yeah but..." Aiden stretched his small body. "That carrier thing is small. My back hurts."

Dean was about to say 'how about you try getting your spine ripped from your back, then tell me what hurts!' but thought better of it. That would just lead to a whole bunch of other problems, including a crying Aiden and a brother who would be angry but also feel upset and guilty after learning something else that Dean suffered through in Hell.

"We'll be there soon, Aiden. We're going to set up that tent in the forest, and then we'll get a good long sleep." Sam smiled at the boy but surprisingly, Aiden didn't smile back.

The boy rubbed his arm, looking down at the ground. "I didn't sleep very good back at the scary town. I was always afraid someone was gonna hurt me and I was sad because I thought I wouldn't see you guys again."

Dean turned to his brother, whose eyes were pooling up and then looked back toward Aiden, who was already starting to sniffle.

Uh uh. Nope. He was not dealing with this.

He quickly turned around, digging through his duffel until he found what he was looking for. "If you cry you're not getting any of these." He waved the bag in the air.

"MARSHMALLOWS!" Aiden cheered, his tears long forgotten at the prospect of eating the sugary snack.

"Stale marshmallows, but who gives a damn." Dean shrugged. "We're gonna roast these things on the fire and tell stories."

"Ooohh camping stories! I always wanted to go to boy scout camp when I got older!"

"Like I said to you before, this is gonna be a lot more intense than any camp, you're gonna get the real survival camping experience here. So no damn crying, at least not until you're safe. You gotta be strong to make it through this, okay?"

"Okay Dean, I promise I'll try!"

"Alright, now get back in that baby-carrier, we're about to take off again."

"Hey!" Aiden yelled, then looked back at the bike carrier. "I guess it is. Can you guys teach me to ride a bike when we find our new home?"

"Yeah, yeah, now shush." Dean waved him off and zipped the marshmallows back up. When he stood up again, he caught Sam giving him one of those stupid smiles.

"What? I hate when you look at me like that."

Like usual, Sam shook his head and smiled when Dean asked, but this time he finally answered. "That wasn't what I would have said to him, but it was pretty good."

Dean blushed, looking away. "Shut up, we're wasting daylight."

* * *

Dean couldn't help but get somewhat excited at the idea of camping out in the forest. They had just crossed the river and entered the wooded area beyond. It reminded him of being in the cabin during that summer with Sam...the same cabin that was featured in their dream world. The idea brought a sense of calm and safety over him, and he hoped it did the same for his brother.

"This a good area?" he asked, hoping they could start settling down for the night. Even he felt exhausted. He couldn't imagine what the humans felt with their weak physical endurance.

Sam looked around, surveying the area. His brother knew the most about the outdoors, having been into boy scouts when they had settled in a town long enough. And in general, Sam loved to study everything. He had back when he was young, and he still did now. Dean knew that in those final days at the hotel, Sam had been trying to gather up as much information as he could about their inevitable journey ahead and the struggles they would face.

"Over here." Sam pointed over by a group of trees. There were a lot of bushes and brambles in this area of the forest, but the spot Sam pointed out had a relatively clear area of grass underneath the trees.

"Okay, cool." Dean pitched his backpack down as everyone else did the same. "The river is just north of us, right? We gotta refill our water."

"Yeah, should just be a five or ten minute hike north. We gotta..." Sam ran a hand through his hair, and Dean knew that as the tell-tale sign that his little brother was getting overwhelmed. The kid was probably running on zero energy and was trying to come up with steps on what they had to do next.

At least this was something Dean knew he could help with. He jumped in, taking over. "Okay, you stay here with Sadie and set up the tent. Aiden, you stay here too but gather up our food so we can be ready to eat when we get back."

The little boy jumped and clapped with joy at the thought of being useful and able to help. Dean didn't even have it in him to roll his eyes. At least the kid did want to take part in things and wasn't whining like a spoiled brat.

"You..." Dean pointed to Castiel. "Do you have any sense of direction at all?"

"I have a compass built in at the center of my being. I can never lose direction."

Dean scratched his head, and the others raised an eyebrow or opened their mouths in shock. "Uhh, okay...well...go with Allen to refill the water. I'll go with Heather and gather some wood so we can make a fire. Got it?"

Everyone nodded and Dean ruffled through their bags, finally finding the flashlights that Sam had misplaced earlier. He handed them out to each group, and then took off toward the west with Heather. The sun had set and dusk was fading into night. They probably wouldn't be able to hunt for food in the dark, but they had enough in their backpacks that they took from Hades' town to last them for a few days if needed.

"Stick close to me, we don't know what shit is out here," Dean told Heather as they got further away from camp.

"It's so spooky." Heather wrapped her arms around herself and moved closer toward Dean. "I've been camping before...kind of...but nothing like this."

"Same here. Me and Sammy only went 'camping'," Dean raised his good hand and pulled out the air quotes, "when it was for a hunt or a few times with Bobby in a forest near his house when he went deer hunting. Never got the real experience."

"Probably closer than my experience. We went to this place in the mountains in Wyoming for a week almost every year since I was a kid. It was a ranch tucked away from society, and it was beautiful...but not exactly camping."

Dean didn't know much about ranches, but he knew they were freaking expensive to stay at. "You guys went for a week every single year?"

"Yeah...my family was...well, we had money." Heather shrugged, blushing. "I had it easy...and when I got pregnant with Peter and my boyfriend scrammed, well...my parents continued to let me stay with them and I didn't have to struggle."

Dean smirked at that. "Explains a lot about your whining and how you wouldn't listen to me back at that farmhouse after we left Bobby's. You were a spoiled brat."

Heather laughed sadly. "Yeah, I was. I'm actually surprised I made it this far. Some days I wake up and wonder how much longer I have, if this is the day I'm going to die."

Well, that was morbid. But Dean thought back to when he was human and distantly remembered feeling the same back then, always wondering if this was the final hunt. "Nah, you're tougher than you look."

Heather scratched the back of her neck. "You think so?"

Dean shrugged one arm. "I mean, you took out those Croats that came out of that shack way better than Allen did. And you didn't freak out the entire time in the town. I'd say you're probably gonna survive. Like, 80 percent chance."

The young woman let out a short laugh. "Gee, thanks."

"Hey, when most demons always lie, I'm always completely and brutally honest."

Heather reached over and shoved at Dean. The push did nothing to move him, but he stumbled just to entertain her. "Yeah, I've noticed!"

They walked for a few more minutes before Dean spotted a cluster of dead trees. "Here, we're gonna take the branches that fell off these trees. They're probably really dry so they will set fire easily."

Heather walked over to the other side of the tree while Dean started gathering the branches into a pile with his powers.

"Hey, Dean?" Heather asked after a few minutes. She was standing by a few bushes; the branches that she collected were at her feet. "Do you think these are poisonous?"

Dean shined his flashlight on what Heather was holding in her hand. They were berries, and he didn't know shit about them. "Well, there's one way to find out." He reached over and took the berries from her, shoving them in his mouth.

"Dean!" Heather yelled, then covered her hands over her mouth, remembering to stay quiet. "Why would you do that!"

Dean swallowed the berries and grinned. "Nope, not poison."

"And what if they were!"

"Then I would feel the poison try and affect my body, but fail. Come on, you gotta admit it's awesome that I'm a poison taste-tester!"

"As long as it doesn't hurt you."

"Aww, look who's all concerned." Dean snickered and used his powers to move the branches Heather collected into his own pile.

"Shut up! Croats can kill you, who's to say poison couldn't!"

"If a gunshot to the head doesn't kill me, I don't think a bit of poison would." Dean chuckled. "Now gather up those berries so we don't have to eat only stale crackers and I'll carry the branches."

Heather huffed and did as she was told. When Dean decided to go over and help her gather some berries, she turned to face him.

"Are you guys…set on picking Colorado as the place we will settle in?"

Dean raised and eyebrow and shrugged. That had been the plan and no one had objected to it yet. "It's what we decided because of the mountains. Why? You got a better idea?"

"Actually….maybe? I mean…but I don't want to push my opinion on the group…I…"

Dean couldn't help but laugh at her awkwardness. "Chill, you're part of the group so you get a say in our choices. But if it sucks, I'm gonna tell you, and we won't do it."

Heather placed some berries in the bag and then stood up, holding her head high. "Okay then, I think we should settle in the ranch I mentioned. Now that I remembered it, I think it would be the perfect place."

Dean crossed his good arm over his broken one. Alright, maybe she had something going here, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to give her a hard time about it. "And where is this ranch again?"

Heather beamed, and Dean could tell she was getting excited. Oh great.

"It's in Wyoming. Like I said, it's surrounded by the mountains, in the valley. There's a stream that runs through it and…if I remember right, there are lakes nearby. It's so tucked away that you have to take this winding road just to get there. No one would find us."

Dean reached out with his powers to halt her excited bouncing. "Calm yourself, geez." He smirked as she tried to release herself from his hold. "Are there any large towns nearby?"

"I mean, it's in the Jackson area, but not close to it. And again, it's deep within the mountains. It took us over half an hour driving through that dirt road in the mountain to even get to the ranch!"

"Okay, okay. And what about shelter?"

"It has a bunch of cabins! And a dining area and a pool and just...Dean, you'd love it! I know you would!"

"I'll save that judgment for when I see it."

"Well I...wait..." Heather paused. "Are you saying you want to stay there?"

"I'm saying it sounds promising. But we gotta talk about it with Sammy and he'll want to ask the others. We gotta find it on a map and see if it sounds like a good idea, then it will be a possibility that we'll probably check out."

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe you guys might use my idea!" Heather ran over to Dean and hugged him. "I'm actually helping out!"

"Yeah, finally. About time. Now I'll tell Sam that I take back my suggestion of dumping you on the side of the road."

Dean figured he deserved it when Heather smacked him on the face.

* * *

Sam was pleased with himself as he glanced at the giant tent he had just set up. The bag that the tent came in claimed it was a 'simple ten minute set-up' and it hadn't lied. With Sadie's help, they were able to get it up no problem.

_How's it going, Sammich?_

Sam laughed out loud upon hearing his brother use the stupid nickname through their telepathy. Sadie looked over and smiled, shaking her head.

_You'll be pleased to know that we have the tent ready and waiting for you. I hope you actually were useful and completed your task so I'm not the only one doing work._

_Don't worry whiny bitch, I've got a ton of dried up branches, and Heather's got some berries she found. We're on our way back right now._

_Berries? You know those might be..._

_Already test-tasted them Sammy._ Dean's voice was smug. _We're good._

_Of course you did. Hurry back, jerk, I'm hungry._

Dean laughed fondly, and then his voice faded out.

"I've watched you both communicate to each other that way," Sadie said, sitting down by Aiden, who was taking his job of food-sorter very seriously. "And it's so obvious when you guys are talking, even though I can't hear it. You both just look so...happy and relaxed when you are."

Sam blushed, not sure what to say. "Yeah, it makes me feel a lot better knowing that I can talk to him when he's not nearby. It's nice to not worry as much."

"When you were communicating to him before you left for the rescue mission, I thought you were crazy. So did a lot of the other people. But Bobby explained the connection you guys share and how Dean's powers created the telepathy. It's pretty cool."

"Yeah, it sure does come in handy," Sam agreed. "I'm so happy we have that ability, we can also kind of share dreams. Dean doesn't normally dream, but with our connection, he can come into mine. I'm...I'm glad he can have that escape from reality again."

"I'm glad he can too." Sadie smiled. "Were you guys this close before, well...the..." She trailed off, drawing a pattern in the dirt with a stick.

"Before he became a demon?" Sam asked, earning a nod from Sadie. Even Aiden looked up from his task at this statement, interested in hearing what Sam had to say. "Yeah, we were always pretty close. I mean, we grew up on the road, we only had each other, and our dad was always away on hunts."

Sam thought back to a few childhood memories and smiled. "Dean raised me, he really did. And even though we had our differences, we always had this bond. Then...I went away to school, which put tension between us because of how my dad reacted, and we dropped contact for a while." Sam ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know how I did it back then, not knowing if he was safe...if he was even alive. I couldn't...I couldn't do that now."

"Sounds like you guys actually got closer," Sadie pointed out.

"Yeah...I mean once we reunited...it didn't take long to get back to being brothers...we developed a stronger bond, but then Dean went to Hell and came back a year later as a demon. Once I finally believed that he really _was_ my brother...and that he was still _Dean_...I...I feel like our trust just grew from there. Me and him...we've never been closer than we are now. We just understand each other on levels where we didn't before." Thinking about it now, Sam realized just how crazy it sounded to have a better relationship with his brother now that he was a demon. "Isn't that weird?" he asked Sadie.

Sadie shrugged. "I don't know. It's pretty remarkable. It just goes to show how much you trust him and accept him, no matter what." She looked down at the ground again, seeming upset.

Sam sat down on the ground next to her and then turned toward Aiden. "Hey, Aiden. How about you check out the tent and put down some of the sleeping bags?"

"Okay, Sam!" Aiden smiled, grabbing a few sleeping bags and running over to the tent.

"What's on your mind?" Sam asked her, wanting to help ease her troubles in any way.

Sadie huffed and looked straight ahead, avoiding Sam's gaze. "It's stupid. It's nothing."

"It's neither if it's bothering you this much." He paused, not sure if he should continue with what he was going to say next. "Is it...is it about what happened in the town?"

Luckily, Sadie didn't get angry but her voice was tightly controlled when she spoke. "No. Not exactly. But...in a way...it kind of is. I just...I see how you and Dean always have each other, someone who you can go to and knows everything about you. And I...Nikki..." She trailed off, blinking back tears.

"Your friend, the one that was the ghost at the hotel?"

The young woman nodded. "She was someone I could tell anything to. I know...I know that I could have gone to her after what happened and she would be there for me. She'd know exactly what to say...and when to not say anything at all. I just...I miss her so much." Sadie let out a quiet sob and then quickly cleared her throat. "I should have tried to spend more time with her when I was in the hotel but...it was so hard. It was so hard to know she was there and I couldn't talk to her...so I just avoided the areas where I knew she would most likely be."

"You could sense her, couldn't you?" Sam asked. He couldn't imagine knowing that your best friend was right there...and you couldn't see them, couldn't hear them. To know that they were suffering all alone and you couldn't make it better.

"Yeah, I could. And it was so painful, every time I felt her presence, it brought back so many memories that I knew we wouldn't have again. So I distanced myself and acted like I was okay, like I was strong enough to move on. But...times like this, I know how wrong I was. I should have sucked it up and visited her even though I couldn't see her!"

"Sadie..." Sam put a gentle hand on her shoulder and she stiffened, but didn't pull away. "There was nothing you could do. Visiting her might have made her lose her mind even quicker, because she'd see you so often and not be able to interact with you. And...you might have gone crazy too. You had to protect yourself."

Sadie sniffed, but didn't allow herself to cry anymore. "I know, I know. I just think of her now...really truly alone and insane..."

"I don't think she fully snapped, though," Sam told her truthfully. "I think the thought of us all leaving that hotel where she would be safe freaked her out. Maybe now that we're gone, she's had time to calm down and realize why we had to leave. She could go find other spirits that are lingering around...that way she has people she can actually interact with."

"I hope you're right," Sadie whispered.

"I hope I am too, and Sadie...I know it's not the same, but you have us. If you ever need to talk about anything, we're here to listen. Even Dean," he finished with a smile.

That got Sadie to actually smile. "Yeah, trust me, I know. He was pretty awesome with me after he rescued me. Awkward as hell, but still awesome."

Sam smiled and was about to respond when he heard footsteps not too far away. A few seconds later, he could sense his brother and turned to Sadie.

"Speak of the devil..." he chuckled.

"Hey, it's _demon_! Not devil! Get your facts straight." Dean emerged from the woods with a bouncing Heather who seemed more excited than usual, which was saying a lot. He had a large pile of branches floating out in front of him. "Talking about how amazing I am?"

"Not too far off," Sam smirked, playing it off as a joke when it really was the truth.

Dean glanced around, looking confused. "We beat back Cas and The Ass?"

Heather burst into giggles and Sam shook his head. "You're _so_ clever. Yeah, you did. I wouldn't worry, but if they aren't back in ten minutes, I say we go after them."

"Yeah, Allen's probably being useless, as usual." Dean huffed and placed the wood on the ground, beginning to work on making a campfire.

"I hope they didn't get lost…" Sam trailed off. He was trying to take his own advice and not worry, but now that Dean had mentioned it…it was weird that they weren't back yet.

"Cas is an angel GPS, remember? They're not lost and I'm not looking for them if they are," Dean grumbled.

Sam watched how his brother was having difficulty putting the campfire together with one arm. He was trying to use his powers to help set up the branches, but they weren't accurate enough for such a precise job.

He decided to kneel down and help. Bobby had taught them how to set up a proper campfire when wood logs weren't available. The older man used to take them with him when he went deer hunting. Sam laughed at the memories, remembering how neither he nor Dean would shoot a deer. Now they had no choice but to use the animals as food, and Dean was no longer squeamish about killing them.

After a few minutes of working together to set up the fire, Dean turned and smirked at Sam. "Looks like you don't have to worry anymore, bitch."

Sam raised an eyebrow in question, but a moment later, he heard someone approaching. It was Castiel and Allen, the latter mumbling under his breath.

"What the hell took you two morons so long?" Dean called out to them.

"I do not believe I fall into the definition of a 'moron'," Castiel replied and then looked at Allen. "But perhaps Allen does, as he tripped on our way back and spilled the water. We had to go back to retrieve more."

Dean, of course, doubled over in laughter. Sam couldn't help but join in and soon, all of them were laughing, with the exception of Allen. The man was glaring at them all, his face turning red.

"Take a joke and relax!" Dean rolled his eyes. They were just about finished with the campfire and Dean held his hand out, easily setting the dry branches aflame. "Hell yes!"

Aiden burst out of the tent at that moment, running toward the campfire. "Yay! Can we roast marshmallows now?" He turned toward Dean and showed him puppy eyes that would rival Sam's.

Dean pulled out the marshmallows but kept them out of Aiden's reach. "First, where's the food you were told to get ready?"

Aiden pointed to the pile of food that was just to Sam's left.

"Okay, we distribute that first, then we'll get to the marshmallows," Dean told him.

Sam passed out the bags of nuts, crackers and canned vegetables. There were also a few cans of soup, which Dean cooked over the fire in one of the pots he had.

They ate together mostly in peaceful silence, until Dean took the marshmallows out.

"Okay, it's ghost story time. And I'm talking _real_ ghost stories."

Sam cocked an eyebrow at his brother. "Really, Dean?"

"Yes really. How about I tell the story about that wendigo hunt we went on...it was in a woods like this..."

"Uh-uh." Sam was going to put a stop to that. "That's gonna creep out everyone more than they already are. We don't need to have nightmares of wendigos ripping through the tent!"

"What?" Aiden asked in a small voice, curling into Heather's side.

"What about Bloody Mary?" Dean asked.

"No!"

"That Bender family? How about that ghost girl who was imagining deadly fairy tales?"

"No and no. If you're going to tell something, tell one that at least has a happy ending and won't freak out Aiden."

"They're all freaky! Who wants to sit at a campfire and tell uplifting stories?"

Sam ignored him. The last thing he wanted was to freak everyone out more than they already were. "How about the time when we helped that ghost woman move on? Molly, the one who was killed in a car crash."

"The one who kept reliving the night of her death over and over again? Dude, you remember her name?"

"I'm sorry that I try to be compassionate and care for the innocent souls we help."

"Guys," Sadie interrupted them. "Are you gonna tell the story or just argue all night?"

"Fine, I'll tell this lame-ass story, prepare to be bored."

"I'm sure you find it boring, but we would find it interesting," Sadie replied. "We never experienced any of the stuff you guys dealt with until the Croats came; it's still new to us."

"Okay, okay fine! I'll tell the damn story." Dean pointed to Sam. "You're helping, this story was your idea."

Sam quickly realized he didn't have to worry about the story seeming scary. He and Dean argued so much over the little details of the hunt that it became more amusing than frightening.

"And then, her spirit exploded into flames," Dean grinned.

"She didn't go to heaven?" Aiden asked, eyes wide.

"No! _DEAN_!" Sam almost shoved his brother in his bad arm, before thinking better of it and smacking him on the side of the head. "She didn't explode, Aiden. Dean's just being a jerk. She actually just faded away; her spirit let go and went to heaven."

"I like my ending better," Dean grumbled.

"It's a lie!"

"It's creative editing. Just adding a cooler twist to it, everyone does that with real-life stories!"

Sadie stood up then, stretching and rubbing her eyes. "I think I've had enough of your bickering. I'm going to head to sleep."

"Your loss," Dean called out to her. "I have tons of other badass stories I could tell."

Heather yawned and stood up with Aiden, who was obviously exhausted, yet didn't want to miss anything. "I want to hear them all! It's so interesting. You'll have lots of time to tell them when we get to the ranch..." She blushed and glanced downward like she had revealed something secret. "...I mean, or wherever it is we'll settle down."

Sam raised an eyebrow at his brother once Heather and Aiden had gone to the tent. "The ranch?"

Dean was grinning, and Sam decided that was a good sign. "Heather told me about this place she knows that we might be able to stay in. I'll fill you in more later, I told her I wanted to talk to you first before I made any promises."

Sam was glad his brother had thought of him in this instance, but he was forgetting...well, everyone else. "And we have to make sure it's okay with the rest of our group, too."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Dean then turned to Castiel, who was still sitting near the fire. "You gonna put that fire out soon?"

"Yes." Castiel answered, his gaze on the flames. "I will put it out when all of you are settled and in bed." He then looked up at the brothers. "I find the human desire to share past stories at a campfire very appealing. Perhaps I can share some of the experiences I have lived through."

"Dude, I'm not listening to stories about angels and heaven. I don't want to hear about the things that hate me and the place they refuse to ever let me into." Sam could tell Dean tried to play it off as something that simply irritated him, but he could tell it affected his brother deeper than he would let on.

"I am sorry about how my brothers and sisters view you. If it makes any difference, I believe they view me in the same manner." Castiel seemed slightly upset, and it was the first time Sam could remember him showing an emotion so close to human. "I do not wish to speak about them. I am thinking more of the things I have witnessed on Earth in the time I have existed."

"Like...battles and wars and shit?" Dean asked.

"Battles and wars, yes. I have seen shit, but I do not think that is something that is desirable to..."

Sam cut the angel off before Dean had more ammunition to tease him with. "Maybe you could even talk about the Wild West? Dean's always been interested in that."

Castiel nodded. "I came to Earth and spent some time in what human history deems the 'Wild West era'. It was an interesting time that I would like to talk about."

Dean looked gleeful at the idea of an actual true western story, and Sam hoped that what Castiel considered interesting would actually excite his brother.

"That sounds awesome, Cas. The next time we set up a fire, you can tell your stories. Thanks for keeping a lookout." Sam smiled at the angel.

"I do not mind, Sam. I have failed at being a guardian too many times, but this time I will take my role more seriously and will protect all of you from any threats."

Sam wasn't sure exactly what Castiel was referring to, but if a small task of watching over a few people and a demon made him feel better, then Sam was glad.

They turned back toward the tent. It was so large that it had sections that could be zipped up to create rooms within it. Sadie, Heather and Aiden were in the largest middle section, and Allen had sulked off into the right one sometime during Sam and Dean's story.

"We should have gone in first, now we're going to be stepping all over them to get into our spot," Sam told his brother.

"No we won't. Crouch down," Dean ordered him.

"What?"

"Just do it."

Sam did, and Dean did the same while grabbing onto Sam's shoulder. A second later, they were crouching in the tent, which wasn't tall enough for them to fully stand up in.

Aiden yelped at their sudden appearance, causing Dean to snicker. They zipped up the tent wall that divided their rooms and got situated in their sleeping bags.

It wasn't exactly comfortable, but it beat sleeping out in the cold with absolutely no padding between their bodies and the hard ground. The storms seemed to be holding off as well, and the humidity had cleared up. It might turn out to be a comfortable night after all.

Sam shifted in his sleeping bag, trying to get situated. He knew that not everyone was asleep already, but no one was speaking. The only sounds he heard were those of nature and of Castiel pouring water over the fire.

The inside of the tent became completely dark then. In a way, it felt kind of suffocating. He had to remind himself that they were safe. No one was going to find them in the middle of this forest. Eve, if she was looking, would check the nearby towns first.

_Hey freak, what's on your mind?_

Sam turned his head and tried to see Dean in the darkness, but he could hardly make his brother out. All he could tell was that Dean was facing him and could somehow sense that Sam's mind had been racing.

 _I'm fine Dean, don't worry._ He attempted to make his thoughts sound as reassuring as possible.

 _You're not fine. I can sense the emo angst just radiating from your giant body._ There was a pause, and then Dean's tone became more gentle. _I just want to know if you're doing okay, Sammy._

 _I am...as best as I can be. I just keep thinking of the future and of our friends...and worrying about Eve. It's the same old stuff that gets to me every now and then._ Sam tried to brush it off like it wasn't a big deal. He didn't want Dean worrying about him.

Dean was silent for a few moments before he sent his thoughts to Sam. When he did, his voice was light and happy.

_Hey, I need to tell you about what Heather said about the ranch. Got some good news, Sammy. I think you're gonna like it._

Sam smiled, already feeling better from hearing his brother so happy. _All right, spill. Tell me everything._

_So Heather used to vacation at this ranch. Brought it up for a place we could live at. Nice ranch with cabins, tucked away in the mountains. And from what she was saying...really tucked away, man. So we're secluded and safe and can plant crops and find some animals to raise._

_Dean, this sounds too damn good to be true._ He wanted to believe it so bad, but they had been incredibly unlucky in the Croatpocalypse so far. Sam didn't want to get too hopeful only to have that hope shattered once again.

_It's real, little brother. Unless you peg Heather as a liar._

_I think we can trust her._ Sam chuckled. _So this is in Colorado?_

_Wyoming. The mountains aren't as big there, I don't think, so we wouldn't be on as high of an elevation in the valley like we would be in Colorado._

_Look at you, being all knowledgeable. And you call me the nerd._

_Common sense, Sammy. And hey, I've always liked history and geography. It's when you give me science and math that I don't give a shit._

Sam laughed through their connection, it was nice to just talk to his brother like this without any impending doom at the moment and he found that sense of hope returning. _Well, it's a good thing I thought to take some of those books back at the house that were about other states in the area. They will come in handy._

_Nice one, freak. So what do you say? We check it out?_

_I say it's worth a shot. I'm just worried that a nice secluded place like that...the owners might have thought to stay there._

_Well, it's better to find out than not to try at all. It's gonna be freaking awesome, Sammy._ Dean sounded so excited, it was nearly contagious.

_I believe you. But first we have to..._

_Yeah yeah, we gotta ask the others what they think first. I know, you mentioned that already._

Sam laughed at Dean's irritated tone and a comfortable silence fell over them. He could feel himself start to doze off when Dean's thoughts entered his mind once again.

_Sammy...do you ever just...miss it being just the two of us?_

The question took Sam by such surprise that he had to take a moment to go over it in his head. Dean was being open with him. This was Dean's way of telling him that he missed the times when it was just the two of them, on the road fighting evil.

And Sam missed it as well. He was happy with the life they could make and the support system they had now but...he did miss those days when life was simpler and they only had each other to worry about.

 _There's a lot I definitely miss,_ Sam started out saying. _And that...that is for sure on my top list of things. But hey, we'll have times like that again. Once we get settled, we'll have our own cabin and can just hang out. We'll go on looting trips together with just the both of us. It's still you and me Dean, it's still us against the world._

Dean's answer was sarcastic, exactly what Sam had been expecting. _Of course it is, bitch. And you signed up for it for the rest of eternity._

_Hey, I wouldn't have it any other way._

Dean didn't say thank you, but his ' _goodnight, Sammy'_ said it all.

* * *

Dean woke up before anyone else, teleporting out of the tent as not to wake Sam. He didn't have a pen or any paper to leave Sam a note, but then he saw the angel still sitting by the extinguished campfire, staring into the forest for any danger.

"I'm taking a bath in the river. Let Sammy know where I am if he asks," Dean called out to Castiel. Sure, Sam could contact him through their telepathy to ask him where he was, but the kid still seemed to forget about that link they shared in times of worry.

Dean grabbed some pans so he could purify some water to wash his hair when he noticed that Castiel was looking at him quizzically. "If you are bathing in a stream, what is the need for the pots?"

Dean huffed. "Sammy says the water could be contaminated with Croatoan. I can't wash anything near my face with that water, so I need to put some in the pot and purify it before I do."

"Your brother is correct that some water could be contaminated, but this river is not."

Dean raised his eyebrows in question. "Yeah, how so?"

"I can determine where the virus resides. I touched the water on the way here and have felt that there is no Croatoan flowing through this water."

Huh, that was pretty cool. "Well good." Dean dropped the pans on the ground and only took his clothes, shampoo and some soap. "That'll come in handy. Sammy will be happy to hear that. Now, keep watch over him while I'm gone."

Dean made his way over to the stream, checking his surroundings in case any more kitsunes or other creatures decided to jump down from the trees and attack him.

This time, no danger stood in his way and he was able to find the lake easily. He stripped from his clothes, briefly smelling them and cringing. He needed to wash those things the best that he could. He lifted one arm, reeling away at the stench that came from him. No wonder the tent smelled of B.O. If everyone else smelled as bad as him, they better all take baths too.

It was a lot easier taking a bath without having to worry about any threat of contacting Croatoan. Having the angel around would come in handy and lead to a lot less worrying for all of them.

Feeling a lot more refreshed, Dean washed his clothes and changed into a fresh pair. Now, if only he had some coffee, then he would feel great.

He really hoped they found some soon. Damn, he missed that hotel Starbucks.

When he made it back to the camp, he was happy to see that Sam was still sleeping. The kid needed the rest and Dean was going to let him sleep as long as he wanted. What he _wasn't_ pleased to see, was that Allen was awake and walking toward him.

Dean tried to avoid him by walking over to the backpacks that stored their food, but Allen followed.

"Dean…," the man started to say.

"What, Allen?" Dean responded gruffly.

Allen stilled, rubbing his hands together in a nervous gesture. "What you were saying last night about the ghost...Sam mentioned early on that she ended up moving on to heaven."

"Yeah, and you didn't stay long enough to hear how that happened."

Allen looked down at his shoes. "I just couldn't stay any longer. I kept….my sister…and the kids….," he swallowed and Dean could tell he was starting to get emotional. He briefly remembered the story Allen had told them some days ago about how his sister, niece and nephew were tortured and murdered by demons. "Do you...do you think they have a chance at getting there at all? Could they get out of Hell?"

Dean shrugged. "Uh, I doubt it. Hell tries real hard to make sure no one leaves unless they want them to. Only a few demons like me ever manage to sneak out. I mean….maybe the kids will, I never saw any in Hell, so maybe they'll be set free, but not your sister."

Allen nodded, as if he were expecting that answer. "But if she is...or does...turn into a demon, do you think there is any chance that she could come out like you?"

"Like me how?" Dean figured Allen knew, but he wanted to actually hear those words come out of the man's mouth.

"Caring about her family, not killing everything she sees, having...having some sort of human connection. Would she…" he sighed, sounding defeated. "Would there be a chance she wouldn't be evil?"

Dean stared the man right in the eyes. "No. There ain't any other demon like me."

Allen's face crumbled, and he turned away. Maybe this guy wasn't as much of an ass as he had let on. He seemed to care deeply for his family, and that was something Dean could relate to.

"If it makes you feel any better, Hell has gotta be mayhem with how overcrowded it is. I doubt there's torturers for every soul. A bunch are probably locked up, and maybe she's one of them. With Crowley in charge, he might find something else to do with them instead of turning them all into demons."

Allen nodded, but it didn't seem like he was very hopeful. "I'm going to go wash up now."

"Good, you reek," Dean called after him and then addressed Castiel. "You might want to follow him and make sure he doesn't trip again and break his neck this time. I'll watch over camp."

"I agree that Allen is not well coordinated and does not have much experience with nature. I will assist him."

Dean rubbed his hands together with glee. He could just picture the look on the man's face as the clueless angel watched him bathe.

Before Dean could snicker too much at that thought, Sam emerged from the tent. His hair was wild but he was looking refreshed.

"Dean, hey…"

That was all that Dean heard before a buzzing and static noise filled his head. He closed his eyes and focused, knowing exactly what was happening.

 _Dean?_ The voice in his mind cut off, but came back into focus quickly. _Dean…you there?_

It looked like Bobby had finally managed to make a call to him.

* * *

Hardly a sound was to be heard as she stood in the center of the town. There were many bodies scattered about, and blood was splattered on the streets. But still...it was obvious that the majority of the citizens had gotten out alive. It seemed as though they had left in a hurry, almost as if they had been expecting her.

Many of her minions had failed her, but Hades had been one that she thought might live up to his promise.

But he had turned out to be a failure, like many of the others. What was so difficult about running a town and keeping them in place until she showed up? She controlled her children with ease, it couldn't be that humans would be much more difficult. They were weak and needy. They needed a leader to look up to, and Hades had been the perfect fit.

Now, she would not be able to create any children out of this town. The babies that Hades had informed her about were nowhere to be seen.

She prefered the fresh young ones. They were easy to manipulate and change into the monsters she wanted them to become. Many of her new ideas for her children ended up failing on the older humans, but when she experimented on their young, they seemed to flourish in their new skin.

And the young ones didn't fight her control at all. They truly loved their Mother, and that was simply all that she wanted.

This was a major setback, but she didn't think to panic. With the way Hades had been able to mutate the Croats, soon any humans that she did not change would be dead and the demons would either die off as well, or retreat back to Hell.

The world would soon be all hers, and it would be a much better place. Her children would not need to compete with each other, there would be no wars or hatred. The things that had corrupted humanity would not be present within the creatures that belonged to her.

Every human should be coming to her with open arms, as she promised a much better life and a Mother who would protect and love them no matter what.

She walked around the city, looking for any traces of what may have led to the fighting and Hades' downfall. It didn't take her long to sense the presence of sulfur in many spots. Demons had been here, but there was no way she could figure out which faction of demons caused this mess.

The sound of shuffling became clear and she used her precise hearing to track down whatever had caused the noise.

Down an alley, was a human male who was bleeding out. He struggled to get to his feet before he fell down again, moaning in pain.

"Child, I can help end your suffering," she spoke to him and approached him slowly.

The man turned to face her, his face already pale. His life force would soon leave him unless she intervened.

"You can...can you kill me? Please. I can't...I can't take it anymore…" Blood dripped out of his mouth as he coughed.

"I can offer you something even better, my child. I can offer you a new life, one free of pain and full of new hopes."

For as weak as the man was, he mustered up enough strength to give her a condescending look. She was used to this by now, and did not take it personally. "What the hell are you talking about girl? I'm not your child, and how can you help me live?"

"You are not my child yet, but you soon will be if you allow me to change you into something better."

"What?" the man coughed. "Like one of those demon creatures? No way!"

"Not a demon at all, dear. I despise those creatures. I am actually working on a way of getting rid of them all. What I want to change you into is something supernatural, something strong and greater than any human or demon."

The man shifted against the wall of the building. It wouldn't be long until the pain became too great to bear. "I'm not becoming anything evil...you...you probably worked for the man that ran this town! He was a disgusting man and his followers shot me! But we...we stopped them all!"

She found this bit of news fascinating. So the humans in the town fought back...with the help of a demon? "It is true that I was having that man assist me. But I cannot speak of whatever actions he had take place here. I only wanted him to protect you all, so you could all be taken care of by me when the time comes."

"He...he promoted rape!" the man yelled as loudly as he could.

Cocking her head to the side, she considered this. She was disappointed in Hades. She did not approve of violence among her children, and rape was definitely a form of that. Her children would mate under mutual terms when both had a desire and urge to do so.

"I am sorry that the people here had to suffer. He should not have gone about those ways in order to produce more young. I am saddened that I will not be able to become a mother to all of them, but I can help you."

The man still did not seem to trust her, but he knew his time was running short, she could see it in his eyes. One of the few things she found commendable about humans was their desire to live. This man would choose his new life over the fear of what lied ahead in death.

"It's not like humans are going to win this war...will I...if I let you change me, will I still be able to turn into one of the Croats?"

"The virus does not affect my children." She smiled warmly at the man that would soon become one of her own. "I will change you, but first, I would like to know everything that happened here, so I can try and make sure it does not happen again."

It was true that she could change the man and then force her child to tell her any information that he knew. But she prefered her children to be willing and honest. If this man told her all he knew right now, he had the chance to be one of her most reliable offspring. She did not like to work by force, but by love and trust.

"Theodore...he...he and his minions got overpowered. There was a demon...he helped us take him down."

"Aren't you afraid of the demons?" She asked the man. "Why did you trust this one?"

"He assisted us in battle….he helped the entire time and didn't hurt us. I wasn't about to complain."

"And this demon...he left you here to die?"

"I...I had been fine. They told us to leave and I started to pack up, when I left my house, I got jumped by one of Theodore's followers who had managed to hide." He pointed to a body that lay about twenty feet away. "We fought and I felt him get me in my stomach, but I managed to slice his throat. I passed out and when I woke up, everyone had left."

"You do not know where they went to?"

"I do. The demon said they were going northeast, up to Canada and he told us to go south, because there were a lot of demons out west, where they came from."

"You are speaking as if the demon was with others."

The man clutched at his stomach, cringing in agony. "He...he was. There were a group of a few of them. He had a brother…it seemed like he was human..."

 _A brother_. That was all she needed to know. The Winchesters and their clan had ruined her town. She had to step up her search for them. She believed them to be a possible threat all along, but now she knew she had to take more drastic measures.

"Thank you child, that is exactly what I needed to know."

She reached down, sinking her teeth into her new child's neck and let her energy form him into a new creature altogether, one that would be able to help track down the Winchesters in a way they would never see coming. He was strong, and would take to the change excellently.

Eve smiled down at her fledgling as the process began.

"I know you will not let me down, little one."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for this chapter! Luckily I already have 3.5k already started for chapter 11!
> 
> This chapter was more character-based rather than having a lot of action, but I felt it was just as important and enjoyed writing the conversations and travelling through the wasteland.
> 
> Let me know what you thought! I'd love to hear your opinion on the chapter and what scenes you enjoyed. :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your comments on this fic after my author's note. I had no idea so many people were reading and enjoying it. I was really touched by every note, thank you all so much. I am going to update with two more chapters and try to remember your comments as I go forward. I have been having a hard time with confidence, especially regarding this fic but your words have helped to inspire me to keep writing. I hope you enjoy these chapters, and let me know what you think.

Dean caught the look Sam was giving him. His brother knew something was up and would soon catch on that he was talking to Bobby and demand to know what was being said. The older brother really didn't want to reiterate the conversation that would take place, so he decided to try something.

He focused, easily opening his mind to his brother through their telepathy, and hoped that when he sent his thoughts out, they would be heard by both Bobby and Sam.

 _Hey old man, glad to hear that you're still alive and kicking,_ Dean told Bobby, trying to keep his tone light. He didn't need the older hunter realizing that he had been a bit worried about whether or not he was okay.

Dean looked over at Sam, and saw his brother perk up. Yep, he had heard that. Good. Now hopefully Bobby did...

_Damn. It's so good to hear your voice, Dean. Or...kind of. Doesn't matter. I'm just so damn happy you're safe. How is your brother?_

_Bobby,_ Sam spoke this time and his voice was just oozing with relief. _I'm okay. Are you? How is everyone else? Are you safe?_

There was a pause before Bobby's voice was heard again. _Well, look at that. I can finally get in on those secret conversations you boys have,_ he chuckled.

 _You only can because I'm allowing you to hear Sam through the call, so don't get used to it._ Dean told him.

_Trust me, I'd rather not hear the immature bickering you guys probably go through in your minds. But back to what Sam said, I'm okay. So is the rest of the group. We're safe._

_You guys didn't stop in that town we were supposed to meet up in, did you?_ Sam asked. _Because it was basically a trap._

_No, we didn't. We actually went to scope the place out first. We parked far away, had a few guys try and get close to check it out. But they saw people on rooftops with guns. We just avoided that area. You guys didn't just walk into there blindly, did ya?_

_We're not stupid._ Dean huffed. _But other people in our group were. We had to go in for a rescue mission. We'll explain later but it basically involves Hades trying to produce babies for Eve to be fresh monster spawn._

_Wha...okay. I'm not even gonna ask right now. You said you guys are okay and that's all that matters. Who else is with you?_

_We met up with Heather, Allen, Sadie, Aiden and Cas. We're all okay, we set up camp hidden in the woods,_ Sam informed their friend.

_Good, it's good you guys are staying where there's cover. You don't gotta car, do ya?_

_Nope. But we've got bikes,_ Dean made his voice go cold. _Baby better be okay._

He heard Bobby sigh. _She's just fine, ya idjit. I can't say for sure that there aren't any scratches though...so you might want to hurry and get up here quick to check it out._

Dean rolled his eyes at Bobby's lame attempt to get them to where he was faster. _If you scratched her, you're fixing her up. We'll get there, where are you?_

 _We traveled north, and then east. Ellen remembered a cabin that Rufus had around here. I knew he had several scattered around as bases when he hunted, but I wasn't aware he had one in Minnesota. It's..._ There was a pause. Bobby was probably looking at some maps. _We're on Lake Moore._

Dean watched Sam run over to his backpack and pull out a map himself. He took a minute to find the lake and the look on his face told Dean it wasn't good news. Sam quickly wiped the look away though, and when he sent his thoughts out, they came out hopeful.

_Okay, that's about 60 miles. With breaks added in, and avoiding the towns...it might be around seven hours._

_Don't worry about that boy. I'm sending out Carl to come get ya. Just tell me the area that you're in._

_The map lists this forest as Co. Park No.2. We're on the south side of the river,_ Sam stared intently at the maps.

 _Alright...give me a minute..._ Bobby took his time to read the map. _Got ya. I see where you boys are at. I'll tell Carl to take highway 6, and get off on 410th street. He'll be waiting for you somewhere on that road._

 _Okay,_ Sam smiled, looking over at Dean. _Thank you Bobby. Tell Carl to be safe._

_I will Sam. Give him two hours just in case._

_Sounds good, old fart._ Dean snickered.

_You call me that one more time and there will be a nice dent in the Impala's driver-side door._

_Alright, alright. No more stating the obvious about you being old._ He grinned over toward Sam, who shook his head in annoyance. _We'll see you soon, Bobby._

 _See you boys._ Bobby ended the conversation, and then Dean felt the mental link to their friend snap. The call was over.

* * *

Dean had originally planned to go catch some fish with his demon powers and roast them over a fire, but since they had a limited amount of time before Carl came, he and Sam agreed that they should simply pack up and head closer to the road. Food would come later.

They evenly distributed the supplies and bags among them and headed out. If it only took Carl an hour, he would be waiting for them in twenty minutes.

"I think it will take us at least ten minutes to get there, " Sam told the group. The kid was always trying to calculate every detail of each move they made. But Dean wouldn't complain, Sam had been right on everything so far, and it helped them a lot. "We won't have to worry about it taking forever to get to places now that we will finally have cars."

"And most importantly, we'll have Baby back." Dean grinned.

Sadie groaned but Heather ran up to walk beside the brothers. "Can I ride in the car? Please? It's so awesome."

Dean limited his response to one word. "No."

"Now's not the time to be worried about having the car to yourself." Sam shook his head at his brother. "We will probably have to drive with people since we already lost two cars ourselves."

"Great. Full house, sounds fun." Dean rolled his eyes. He was pretty embarrassed at himself for admitting to Sam last night that he missed the times when it was just the two of them. It was true that he didn't mind being with these people and that he felt he belonged. However, too much time surrounded by them without him and Sam being able to be on their own, like they were able to at the hotel, was beginning to wear on him. If they couldn't even have the Impala to themselves like old times, he knew he'd be getting aggravated quickly.

A rumble of thunder brought Dean out of his musings. Great. They had missed the storm last night, but another was on its way, and he was sure this one would hit them this time.

They picked up the pace after that, arriving to the edge of the road quickly. Dean decided to peek out first, making sure no one was waiting for them on the road other than Carl.

No one was there, not even Carl. It wasn't a cause for worry, as they had arrived early.

"Let's stay in the forest, but close enough to see the road while we wait," Dean told the group.

They didn't have to wait long. Almost 15 minutes later, they could hear the sounds of tires on the dirt road, coming down from the north.

As the noise became louder, Dean quickly noticed that the vehicle wasn't any of the cars or trucks they took from the garage at the hotel. It was a giant RV.

"Shit, that can't be Carl," Dean muttered.

"Okay, let's just stay down. They should drive by and not see us," Sam whispered.

"Uh-uh," Dean turned to Castiel. "Give me that angel blade of yours."

"DEAN!" Sam seethed, gritting his teeth.

"Listen quick, this might be one of Eve's monsters. It could be a threat. I can teleport inside while they drive past and spy in the back of the RV to try and figure out who this person is. If I don't notice anything out of the ordinary, I'll leave the person alone and teleport out, okay?"

"Dean...I don't think..." Sam started to say, but Dean ignored his brother. He grabbed the angel blade that Castiel had offered him and teleported just as the RV began to drive past them.

Dean landed in the back of the RV, just as he had hoped. The inside of the large vehicle looked nothing out of the ordinary. He quietly made his way forward, trying to take a glance at the driver.

Was that...oh. It _was_ Carl. Somewhere along the way, the group had obviously found an RV.

Well, Dean could still have some fun.

He smiled, teleporting himself out in front of the RV. He caught Carl's shocked eyes as the man attempted to slam on the brakes.

Dean didn't feel like getting hit today, so he teleported back inside just before the vehicle could hit him.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Carl yelled. The RV came to a complete stop, and he glanced around outside quickly, finally turning his head enough to see Dean sitting beside him. "Shit! Dean? What the...what..."

Dean laughed gleefully. "Hah, the look on your face!"

"That...that's how you choose to greet me? You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"No I didn't. Stop being a wuss." Dean then focused on communicating to Sam. _It IS Carl, Sammy. Come up the road a bit with everyone and get in._

Carl had his arms folded, still glaring at Dean. "I was gonna say I'm happy to see you. But not now."

"I'll tell you what...now you get to try and pull a stunt on me, and I can't even complain. Let's see if you can one-up me."

The other man rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like I can one-up a demon who can teleport."

At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

"It's Sammy and the others," Dean told the man, who still seemed too startled to even open the door.

Dean let his brother in, followed by the rest of the group, and quickly pressed the latch to lock the door.

Carl got up and hugged Sam. "It's good to see you, Sam. I figured you guys would be okay, but I worried still."

"Glad to see you too." Sam patted Carl on the back and pulled away. "I hope Dean didn't do anything too stupid when he went to check out who was driving the RV."

"It's Dean. Of course he did something stupid. But don't fret, I'll get him back."

Carl was busy greeting everyone else when a flash of lightning filled the sky, thunder following soon after.

"Alright, you can save your hugs for later." Dean pushed through Carl and Heather who were currently talking. "Let's get moving before the storm starts."

"So polite, as always." Carl chuckled and sat back down in the driver's seat. "Had to say, it was a little boring without you. Glad to have you back, Dean."

Carl started the engine before Dean could think of a comeback, so the older Winchester decided to stop any more potential bickering and sat next to Sam on the couch behind the passenger seat.

"Well, looks like you can relax little brother, everyone is safe and we're heading over to meet them."

"We can't relax yet." Sam sounded on edge. "We're going to be driving through a storm, and we don't know if we will run into anyone...or anything on this hour drive back. And after we do meet up, we still need to decide..."

"Okay, enough, enough." Dean put his hands over his ears and then stood up. He pointed at Sam. "I told you to stop thinking like that. This is something positive. Something actually went our way for once, so be happy about that."

Dean got up to give his brother some space to mope and walked to the back of the RV to check it out. This thing was huge, something only a wealthy family could afford. There were two bedrooms. One had a king bed and the other had two sets of bunk beds. On one of the bottom bunks, Aiden was cuddled under the covers while Heather was telling him a story.

"Sure you don't want me to tell one of my stories?" Dean grinned mischievously.

"No, Dean. You'll tell a scary story." Aiden yawned, burying his face into the pillow.

"How the hell are you still tired? You woke up an hour ago!"

"I don't like camping," Aiden declared. "My back hurts, and I kept waking up and didn't get to sleep a lot. Heather said I can sleep in here now when we camp!"

"Lucky you." Dean rolled his eyes, eyeing one of the beds himself. He could sleep for ten more hours, but he knew he should stay awake and help keep a lookout during the drive.

"Heather's telling me about the cool place we're gonna go to, and that no Croats can get to us," Aiden spoke to him tiredly.

"Yeah, that's right. No more luxury suites and video games for you though, kid."

"That's okay. She told me there are comfy cabins and that there's a pool table and you can teach me!"

Dean glared at Heather, who only smiled sweetly in response. "Maybe. When you're older. The pool cue probably weighs more than you. First, I have to teach you how to fight and defend yourself."

Aiden smiled with excitement. "I'll be the best Croat hunter ever, just watch, Dean!"

"I think me and Sammy got you beat, but I don't know, maybe in twenty years you'll be third best...maybe."

Before Aiden could respond, Sam appeared at Dean's side. "Hey...I'm sorry."

Dean pulled Sam back into the main area of the RV, letting Heather finish her story with Aiden. "Sorry for what?"

"Thinking negatively. I'm trying not to, Dean, I really am. I promise I won't go back to thinking like I used to. It's just...sometimes it sneaks in."

"Of course it does, emo is your middle name."

Sam made a face. "Dude. You're not funny. And I'm trying to be serious here."

Dean huffed at Sam's reluctance to joke around. "You're fine Sammy, don't worry about it, geez. That's why I'm here, to pull you out of it."

Sam smiled. "Thanks, jerk."

"Ewww, okay enough with this. There's only so much mushy chick-flicks that I can handle. Bitch." Dean shoved at his brother, but before Sam could push him back, rain started to pour down.

"Great, straight to pouring, this is gonna be fun," Dean grumbled, sitting back down on the couch with Sam.

"I'm gonna slow it down a bit just to be safe," Carl called out to them. "It's getting difficult to see, and I don't want to hit any stalled cars or branches in the road,"

"Or Croats." Dean turned toward Sam and grinned.

"Shut up, you asshole." Apparently, it was too soon to be joking about Sam's car crash. Whatever.

Carl was basically driving at a crawl and Dean was sure their trip would have an extra hour tacked onto it. But maybe the storm wasn't so bad. Maybe it was just a quick scattered thunderstorm...

He turned around on the couch and peered open the blinds of the RV.

Shit. The sky was dark gray, appearing almost black. This was a big storm system. It might be better if...

Movement in the sky caught Dean's attention. He was immediately drawn to the object that was flying in the distance...planes hadn't been flying in months...

"Pull over!"

"Wait, what?" Carl asked.

"Get into the nearest cluster of trees and pull over! NOW!"

Carl listened and slowed down, pulling over in the grass next to some trees.

"Cut the engine! And no one get out of the damn camper!"

"Dean, what is it?" Sam asked, eyes wide.

He hated to worry his brother like this, especially when Sam was trying so hard not to be negative. But damn it, anything flying in the sky larger than a bird nowadays was serious and most likely dangerous.

"There's something in the sky, that's what." Dean peered out the window again, Sam doing the same.

"There haven't been planes or helicopters in forever..." Allen said from the passenger seat.

"Exactly, so whatever this is, it shouldn't be up in the air," Dean replied, moving forward to the front windshield to get a better look.

"What's going on?" Heather peaked her head out from the bedroom, but Sam motioned for her to go back inside.

"We'll tell you as soon as we know. Just don't let Aiden know anything is wrong. Keep him calm," the younger brother whispered to her.

Heather looked skeptical and worried, but she nodded and did as she was told. Sadie had gotten up from where she was sitting and joined everyone at the front windshield.

"How could you even see it with the rain coming down so hard?" she asked.

"Trust me, this thing stood out. It's kinda hard to miss...there!" Dean pointed slightly to the right where he could see an object far in the distance.

"Holy crap, you're right..." Carl whispered.

"Of course I am. Now, I think I should go out there in smoke form so I can try and get a closer-"

"No." Sam folded his arms. "I let you go teleport into the RV not knowing who was inside, but I'm not allowing you to do this."

"Sammy, I..."

"I don't want to hear it. We don't know what the hell it is or if it could easily spot you. No."

"I'll be..."

"Besides," Sam cut him off. "I'm the only way you can get free. And I'm not doing it."

"Guys...I think it's getting closer..." Carl's voice sounded frightened and both brothers turned back to the danger at hand.

Dean narrowed in on the thing...from this distance it looked...it looked like it was a monster.

It was a creature. A creature with huge flapping wings.

"Dean...are you seeing what I'm seeing..." Sam asked in a breathy voice, like all the air was sucked out of his lungs.

"I've never seen anything like that before...," Dean trailed off. He found himself at a loss for words, and that didn't happen very often.

"It's Eve." Sam gasped. "She must have made this thing...maybe a _new_ monster."

"And it's probably looking for us...or looking for something, at least. Let's get down on the floor!"

"It's probably only searching for movement on the ground." Allen pointed out. He sounded like he was in shock, his voice oddly detached. "I don't think it will see us in..."

"I don't give a damn!" Dean yelled. "Get down anyway!"

Dean grabbed Sam, even though his brother was already in the process of following his directions, and pulled him down so he was laying on the floor. Dean got down right by his side and Sadie and Carl lay down wherever there was room. Allen ran back to the master bedroom and closed the door...of course. Castiel sat on the floor with his back to the passenger seat, his eyes were squinted in concentration. Did angels have super hearing? Dean sure hoped so, maybe he would be able to track how far away the creature was.

Everyone was completely silent, even though Dean figured there was no need to be. The creature couldn't hear them with how far away it was and the added noise of the pouring rain. But Dean welcomed the silence nonetheless.

_Do you really think that thing is looking for us on Eve's orders?_

Well there went the silence. But truth be told, Dean didn't mind hearing his little brother's voice. There were two things Dean felt he was best at, and that was protecting Sam and figuring out their next move. He could do both right now.

_I know it's gotta be sent by Eve...But we don't have any idea to know she's looking specifically for us. Probably just trying to capture anyone nearby to figure out who destroyed her town. We just gotta keep hidden here until it goes away and then head to the cabin. We'll be fine._

_All it takes is it seeing us moving once and it's going to attack!_ Sam was in pure panic mode right now. _We don't know how far this thing can see! There are probably others! We're going to be…_

_Sammy! Relax, damn it. I don't think it's gonna keep coming around and checking out the same areas once it already went over them. And we don't know if there's more than one. We'll just have someone keep a lookout and let us know if they spot it in the sky and we'll pull over again, no big deal._

_Okay, you're right. I'm just..._

"Guys..." Sadie's voice was barely audible. "Do you have any idea if it's gone yet?"

"How would I know?" Dean hissed quietly. "I don't have super hearing!"

"I do have excelled hearing," Castiel spoke from where he sat on the ground, startling Dean. The damn angel was always so quiet that it shocked him whenever he did decide to speak. "I can hear the creature's wings flapping. It has not left the area yet."

Dean rolled his eyes. Even without connection to heaven, Castiel still overpowered him in some ways. He didn't like it.

"Okay, well if you can hear the thing, there's no reason for us to be lying on the ground. I'm gonna go around and lower all the blinds." Dean raised his good hand and simultaneously lowered all the blinds in the room they were in.

"I'll take care of the windows in Heather and Aiden's room," Sam told him, standing up. "I'll check on Aiden and see how he's doing, too."

Dean huffed, knowing that now he'd have to take care of the room that Allen had retreated into. He found the man sitting in the corner of the room, away from any windows, with his knees bent and head lowered between them.

Dean huffed, alerting the man to his presence and made his way over to the two small windows in the room, lowering the blinds with a flick of his hand.

"We're fine," Dean told the man, not bothering to keep the irritation out of his voice. "Stop freaking out and get up."

There was no response from Allen other than the rapid shaking of his head and harsh breathing. Was he...was he actually having a real panic attack?

Dean really wanted to laugh in the man's face over how wimpy he was being. But if he did, it might just cause the guy to go into even more of a breakdown. He wasn't in the mood for that today. "Dude, calm down," he said instead.

"I...I can't...I can't..." Allen managed to say between short, shaky breaths and then went back to tucking his head between his legs.

"If you don't relax you're gonna pass out since you're not getting enough oxygen." Dean shrugged his good shoulder carelessly.

Allen lifted his head and stared at Dean. "Wh...what?"

"Happened to Sammy the first time he broke his arm. We were riding bikes when we were kids...well, he was sitting on my handlebars...fell off, broke his arm and had a panic attack when he saw how bad it was. Passed out quickly after that." Dean grinned suddenly. "Or you know what, keep it up and pass out, it will be easier to deal with you when you're not awake."

Allen scrunched up his face, his mind now focusing in on getting offended over Dean's comment and less about their current predicament. "You're an ass," the man grumbled.

"That I am. But it worked. I got you to finally chill out, didn't I?"

The man looked confused, and then bitter over the fact that Dean was right. "Whatever. I don't know how any of you can stay calm. Well...you, yeah. But everyone else? We...everything keeps going wrong! One bad thing after another! It's never going to end, it's like I'm cursed!"

Dean huffed with a roll of his eyes. "Welcome to the club. How about you try going to Hell, then you can come back and complain to me."

Allen's face blanched and Dean inwardly smiled at the discomfort he was causing the man.

The sound of someone clearing their throat had Dean turning around. He knew it was Sam even before he saw him. His little brother was leaning against the doorframe, shaking his head.

"What?" Dean asked. "I'm just being honest. I've been through way more shit than him!"

"Yes, you have," Sam agreed. "But that doesn't mean his feelings are invalid."

Dean groaned loudly. "Here we go again, sentimental Sammy to the rescue."

"Hey, I need to be sentimental to balance out how rude and brash you are."

Dean flipped Sam off, but the younger brother didn't engage in any more banter. Instead he approached Allen and sat down on the bed, looking down at the man.

"I know it seems like it's one thing after another...trust me, I get it. It's been happening to Dean and I ever since our mom was killed by a demon. It seems like it never ends. But just know this..." Sam paused, taking a deep breath. "It could have actually been a lot worse. Lucifer could have been released, and then...no one would have lived. He would have created storms and disease other than Croatoan. He would have unleashed even more demons that would be unstoppable under his reign. But we...Dean and I were actually able to stop it, when we thought there was no way. This...this I believe we can stop too."

"But for how long?" Allen asked. "How long before something else comes up? You guys stopped that demon that was ruling and kidnapped Dean, and then this...Eve thing comes with her army of freaky monsters and mutated Croats!"

"Eve was always there...or has been for a while. She just stepped up once Alastair died and was out of her way. And once we figure out how to get rid of her...yeah, there will be Croats and monsters. But the Croats we will just have to avoid, and the monsters won't be under her control anymore, so they will be less of a threat. The demons, well...I'm sure Crowley is already rounding them up. We'll just keep an eye on him and make sure he stays in line."

"And why can't you just kill him too?"

"Someone's gotta be in charge of Hell," Dean answered, deciding if he was gonna stay in this room, he should become part of the conversation. "Rather it be him than another demon that's like Alastair. And you can't expect me and Sam to just be able to kill every threat! We're not damn..."

 _Dean, enough._ Sam called out to his brother, causing Dean to huff, but remain silent all the same.

"Once we get to the ranch," Sam continued. "It will be a lot better. I know this is overwhelming...I know you've been through a lot. Just remember that it could be worse. You've got a good group of people here looking out for one another. And we're going to build an amazing and safe community. It will work out...the ranch is the perfect place."

"Sammy, that was beaut..."

"DEAN!"

"Okay, okay!" Dean held his good arm up.

To both brothers' surprise, Allen actually cracked a smile. "Thanks Sam. I'm...I'm gonna try." He looked at Dean quickly, and then back at the younger Winchester. "And I'm sorry..."

"Sorry for what?" Sam asked.

"For...for how I treated Dean. You shouldn't be acting so nice to me...helping me. Your brother's an ass but he's not...he's not a bad guy and I treated him like he was. I can't believe you didn't just kick me out."

"Well, it's about time you finally..."

Sam cut Dean off, smiling at the man. "I forgive you. I didn't think I ever would, but...well, you honestly seem sorry and I can understand being so wary of a demon. I'm glad you came around."

"Sammy's the most understanding person to ever exist. You're lucky he's around or else..." Dean made a motion for slitting his throat.

Finally, Allen didn't flinch away, but laughed.

"And the fact that he's actually joking about things…," Sam continued on with a smile. "...means that he forgives you...well, kind of. In his own way."

"Well, I did need some payback," Dean admitted, smirking. "After the Castiel incident, I guess I can start to move on and forget what an ass you once were..."

"Castiel incident..." Allen's voice trailed off, before realization finally dawned on him. "You! You sent him to 'guard me' when I took a bath in the river! You asshole!"

"You should be lucky that's the only thing I had planned. I could have came up with SO much more. In fact..."

Allen shook his head rapidly. "No. No. Uh-uh. That was enough. No more please."

Dean chuckled triumphantly, leaving the room with Sam following behind.

"I've gotta say, Dean..." Sam was smiling. "I didn't think you'd be able to move on. And I wouldn't have blamed you if you couldn't."

"When it comes down to it, he's a wuss. It's actually so entertaining to mess with him that I forgot to be angry at him."

"Okay, well...that's not the best way to forgive...if it's even forgiving at all, but I'll take it."

Dean wasn't sure what to say to that. Luckily, he was saved from answering when Castiel came over to them.

"The creature has left the area, it traveled south. We should be safe to continue our travels north."

"See?" Dean clapped Sam on the shoulder and then shoved him. "Told you there was nothing to worry about."

* * *

As soon as Sam stepped out of the RV, Bobby was there, pulling him into a hug.

Sam let out a short laugh. He wasn't used to Bobby being so forward with his emotions. "Hey Bobby."

Bobby pulled away, and for a second, Sam was able to see the pure relief in his face before giving the younger Winchester a no-nonsense look. "Do you have any idea how worried I was about you boys? You were supposed to be back an hour ago!"

"You could have just called me again," Dean said, coming out of the RV and standing beside Sam.

Bobby walked over to Dean, clamping him on the shoulder. "I didn't know if you boys were in danger! I wasn't about to call again and distract you if you ran into something."

Dean huffed. "Yeah, well we almost were in danger. But thanks to my awesome sighting skills, we were able to avoid it."

With that response, Sam wouldn't be upset if Bobby smacked Dean over the head. Instead, his annoyed expression turned into a smile, and he hugged Dean as well.

"Ughh, since when did you turn into a sap?" Dean groaned, but still hugged Bobby back with his good arm.

Bobby pulled out of the hug and folded his arms. "Since I thought you two could be dead, that's when."

"Well here we are, alive and kicking. Now relax."

The brothers stepped out of the way as everyone else exited the vehicle and said their greetings. Ellen and Jo approached the brothers, filling them in a bit on what happened on their journey to the cabin. They were cut short as the kids ran outside, running up to the brothers in excitement.

Sam was busy hugging some kids and laughing as they jumped on an irritated Dean when he noticed Marcy burst out from the cabin, sprinting right toward them.

Oh, how he wished he had a camera. This was about to get good.

Dean raised an eyebrow at him. "Why are you looking at me like..." He suddenly stopped when Marcy's arms wrapped around him from behind. Dean jumped, pulling out of her grasp and raising a knife as he spun around.

Marcy somehow wasn't fazed at all. "Dean! I've been worried sick about you and Sam! Come here!"

"Oh god, it's just you. Great," Dean grumbled, tucking his knife away. He stood there with a frown on his face while Marcy hugged him again, this time squeezing him tightly, and...

She was crying. Well, now Sam was feeling just as uncomfortable as his brother.

After a minute, Marcy pulled away from Dean and wrapped Sam in a hug just as tight. When she let go, she reached up to cup both of their faces in her hands.

"I'm so happy to see you boys." She sniffled, a few tears still running down her cheeks. "I was thinking the most horrible things could have happened to you both. And thinking of you out there alone, not knowing where we were, I was so worried."

"We're fine," Dean grunted. He pulled away and rubbed at his face where Marcy had been touching him.

"Well if you're fine like you insist, then you can come help me in the kitchen, Dean!" Marcy clapped her hands and then grabbed onto Dean's good arm, trying to pull him away.

"Uh-uh. No way. We just got back from a long journey! I'm tired, damnit!" Dean ripped his arm away and then crossed it over his slinged arm.

"Hey Dean, you know if you help her, you'll be able to sample the food and get some of it before everyone else." Sam nudged him in the side. "And maybe you can influence Marcy to make meals the way you like them."

Dean let his arm drop, the thought of good food seemed to erase his grumpy mood. "Well, there probably aren't a lot of ingredients. She might need my help to make the meal even taste edible."

"Yes, yes. Your help would be wonderful Dean! Now come." Marcy beckoned him forward and Dean groaned, but began to follow.

"I'll fill Bobby in on everything, don't worry!" Sam called after him. "And make me something good!"

Bobby led the rest of them into the cabin. The building was bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. There were three bedrooms, one of them used as an office, and a large living room and kitchen. There was a back room that was full of books and cases of what were probably supplies and weapons. Sam was surprised to see that Rufus even had a basement built in.

"There's loads of stuff down there that will probably be useful to us," Bobby informed Sam. "Still gotta go over a lot of it today."

"I'll help with that," Sam told him. "You think there's enough room in here for all of us to sleep? We found some sleeping bags, but only took a few more than what we needed for ourselves."

"We're good. We found some on one of our stops and Rufus had a bunch here. I'd like for all of us to stay inside. With the basement, there should be enough room for everyone. We'll just ward this place up really well and we should be fine."

"Speaking of wards...how could Dean just walk right in here? I'd think Rufus would have a ton of protection that would prevent demons from entering."

Bobby scratched the back of his neck. "Well, there were. I removed them. Shouldn't take too long for me to put them back up."

Sam smiled. He knew there had to have been a lot of hidden wards that must have taken Bobby forever to find and remove. "Thanks Bobby."

"You two are my boys, don't thank me." Bobby cleared his throat. "Now, what happened on your way back that took so long?"

They sat down on one of the couches in the living room. A few people sitting around seemed to be listening with interest. Sam didn't mind. It wasn't like he had anything to hide, and it was best if everyone knew as much as possible about the challenges they were going to face.

"Dean saw something in the sky…it was a new monster. Something that Eve created. We're guessing it was searching for people."

Bobby scrunched up his face. "Well, a monster that can fly. I'll be damned. Who do you think it was searching for?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't think she knows that we know about her…so I don't think she'd be looking for us. I think she's looking for the people that left Hades' town…and anyone that might have helped them escape."

"So this thing might just attack or capture anyone it sees that's moving?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah…so we have to keep a lookout. But as long as someone sees it in advance, if we park our cars and don't move it shouldn't know any better."

"What direction did it head in?" Bobby seemed concerned.

"Cas said it went northeast, so I hope we're safe. Even after it left, we waited until the rain stopped to continue on and we never saw it again. But still, the sooner we get to the ranch, the better."

"The ranch?" someone asked. "Do we have a place picked out for a new permanent home?"

"How about we take over from here."

Sam turned when he heard Sadie's voice and saw the young woman nudging Heather.

"Oh, yeah! I know all about the ranch!" Heather exclaimed. The two women walked more toward the center of the room, the excitement in Heather's tone already drawing people in.

"You should show Bobby the journal," Sadie whispered to Sam when she passed him.

Oh. Sadie was trying to create a distraction so Bobby and Sam could discuss the journal in private and get to work in possibly translating it. Sam knew how eager she was to find out what the sick man had been up to and put a stop to it.

Sam nodded his thanks and then motioned for Bobby to follow him. No one bothered to ask where they were going, too caught up in whatever Heather was saying.

Sam grabbed one of their bags, then they went into the office room and Bobby shut the door behind him.

"Now, what was so important you had to tell me in here?" Bobby asked.

"This." Sam dug through his bag for the journal. At the same time, he reached out to contact Dean.

_I'm about to show Bobby Hades' journal. I'll let you know if he finds anything out._

After a moment, Dean responded. _Good. Tell him to hurry up with that translating._

_How about you hurry up with the food?_

Dean chuckled, the laugh was lighthearted, something that Sam hadn't heard in a long time. _Fine, fair enough. It will be 10 minutes tops, hold your horses._

"Sam?" Bobby was looking down at Sam in amusement. "Do I even want to know what you two were probably bickering about?"

With a grin, Sam laughed. "Just the typical. But I did tell him what I was about to show you." He pulled out the journal and put it on the desk. "It's a journal Hades' had. We found it in his lab where he was experimenting on Croats, and kept demons in cages too."

Bobby flipped through the pages, nodding here and there. After a few minutes he closed the book and looked at Sam.

"It's Greek, I think I'll be able to translate most of this."

"How many languages do you know again?" Sam smiled.

"Too damn many." Bobby pulled down the shutters a bit to dim the sunlight coming through the windows and got situated at the desk, lighting a candle and pulling out some sheet paper. Sam could tell that he was in the zone, setting up the room just the way he liked it back at his house. He was willing and ready to get on with this latest task and complete it as soon as possible. It was something Sam always admired and looked up to Bobby about...even when he grumbled and cursed about some task they'd ask him to research in the past, he always dedicated himself to it and wouldn't give up until he found everything the brothers needed.

"You need any help with anything?" Sam asked.

"Pshh. You know I work best alone. Go relax and get some food, Sam. And tell your brother to bring in a plate for me when he finally finishes lunch."

Sam wished Bobby good luck and left him alone. He was about to go and see what was going on in the kitchen when Dean burst through the door, paper plates floating in the air in front of him.

"That was quicker than ten minutes," Sam told him, following his brother in order to try and see what was on the plates. He didn't realize how hungry he had been until now and the thought of eating something other than crackers and fish had his mouth watering.

"You'll get your food, hold it Sasquatch." Dean walked past him, going up to people and telling them to 'hurry and grab their food before he decided to dump it on their heads'.

Sam pouted as Dean and Marcy brought out the other plates, none of which were for him. The pasta they had made looked delicious, and he was getting grumpy watching everyone else eat. He was shocked they had enough paper plates for everyone, Bobby and his group must have looted some on the way here.

A slap on the arm brought Sam out of his thoughts about the meal. Dean was standing next to him, grinning.

"Follow me," he ordered, walking into the empty kitchen. He stopped at the table, waving at a plate that was loaded with at least double the amount of pasta. "A giant plate for my giant brother. Now you can wipe that frown off your face."

Sam looked over at Dean's plate, which still had more than the other guests, but not nearly the amount Sam had. "Marcy let you get away with this?"

Dean shrugged his good shoulder. "I helped her so I should be able to do whatever I want. And she didn't care anyway, just started blabbing about how sweet it was." He took a gigantic bite of pasta smothered in tomato sauce and moaned in delight. "Come on, try it! I made it awesome!"

Sam took a bite that matched Dean's own and the flavor almost overwhelmed him. It had been so long since he had something that wasn't bland. "Damn Dean, this is good." He immediately went in for another bite.

"I told you so, just don't eat in front of anyone else so they don't get jealous of your monster-portion."

Sam watched his brother eat with gusto and smiled fondly at him. "Thanks, Dean."

Dean waved his fork at him, tomato sauce slashing on Sam's face. "Shut up. You owe me now, so you better start thinking of how to repay me."

"Don't worry, you're gonna feel bad when my gift to you is so much better than yours."

"Hah, I'd like to see that! Bring it on, little brother!"

Other than a few more teasing moments, they ate in a comfortable silence. Sam was too focused on the amazing meal to talk much, and he bet Dean was as well.

Marcy began making trips into the kitchen with dirty plates to throw away, and the brothers soon cleared their plates as well. Sam groaned; he was pretty full but Dean looked like he could eat another three servings.

"Dessert?" Dean asked hopefully when Marcy walked back in.

The woman walked over to one of the cupboards and pulled out a bag of cookies and winked. "About three months stale."

"Yeah, no thanks." Dean pushed away from the table and stood up, stretching. "I'm crapped out. Gonna take a nap."

"About time, I was just waiting for you to start whining about how tired you are." Sam laughed.

Dean pouted. "Been too long since I had a proper nap. Help me find an empty room."

It turned out that the basement had too many anti-demon wards and spells. Dean told Sam that he could easily avoid them, but with so many being so close to him, he could physically feel them and it left him antsy and uncomfortable.

With the basement out of the question, Dean was insistent on a bedroom. The guest bedroom would house most of the kids at night, but right now it was empty aside from Aiden, who was sitting down on one of the beds with his head in his hands.

"Uh uh. I'm not dealing with this now, too tired," Dean shook his head upon seeing the boy's sad posture and hopped into the other empty bed, pulling the covers up over himself and getting comfortable.

Sam figured Dean's response would be as much but he didn't mind talking to Aiden alone. Whatever was bothering him, Sam could most likely relate to it and be able to help, whereas Dean wouldn't have much of a chance.

"Hey, Aiden." Sam knelt down next to the boy. "You want to talk out in the hallway? You look upset."

Aiden shook his head, but after a moment's hesitation, the shaking changed to a nod and he reached out to hug Sam.

He ended up taking Aiden into the kitchen, which was now even free of Marcy. Everyone was either outside, in one of the living areas, or in the basement. They sat down at the small table he and Dean were at earlier.

"Why were you sitting there all by yourself?" Sam asked the small child. "You look like something's bothering you, do you want to talk about it?" His mind raced over the many things poor Aiden could be upset about. He could be thinking of his parents, of his past life, or what happened in Hades' town. There were so many possibilities and Sam wanted to be sure he was prepared to help in any way he could.

Aiden looked down at the table. "I'm sad, but... not about me. I'm feeling sad about someone else."

"Did someone hurt your feelings?" Sam asked.

Aiden shook his head quickly. "No, not like that. Like...I feel bad for someone else."

Sam's heart clenched. Aiden had so much love and compassion for such a young kid. He could definitely relate to this. When he had been a kid, Sam had always taken the feelings of others into account and got attached to others easily.

"Who do you feel sad about? Is it someone here?"

Aiden nodded shyly. "I don't want to say who, though."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to make you sad too."

Instantly, Sam's heartbeat picked up. "Aiden, is it Dean? Why are you worried? Did he tell you something?"

"No!" Aiden looked up at him, his eyes pleading. "Please don't be upset!"

Sam tried to school his emotions the best he could as to not scare the boy. "I'm not upset, Aiden. I just want to know why you're sad for Dean. Can you please tell me?"

Aiden shifted in his seat, fidgeting nervously. "When Dean was with me and gave me his cool powers, I saw something that made me sad."

It took Sam a minute to catch on to what Aiden was describing. It was the possession that had happened when Dean rescued Aiden back in the town. This wasn't good. Aiden had probably seen something in Dean's mind that freaked him out. It wasn't Dean's fault, he couldn't control a little slip in the wall he had built up between their minds, but this could still cause problems.

"Did you see something when Dean was with you? Did it scare you?"

"I wasn't scared," Aiden said, his posture straightening up and his voice getting stronger. "I saw a man, but I knew he wouldn't hurt me. But the man..." Aiden slumped down once more, his bravado quickly dissipated. "...he was hurt bad. He had lots of scars and he was burned up and...I think he was Dean."

Oh. Sam suddenly felt lightheaded. This was the last thing he had been expecting. Aiden had seen a glimpse of Dean's true soul. He had no idea how this must be affecting Aiden and as much as it hurt, the only way to find out was to ask more questions.

"Aiden..." Sam paused, unsure of how to explain this situation to a six year old kid. He wasn't sure if he should tell Aiden the truth about what he saw or to make something up to ease the boy's mind. Sam thought back to how Dean had told the residents of the town that they have to toughen up in order to survive. The same went for the kids, too. They shouldn't be shielded from any truths, no matter how scary they may be. "That's what Dean really looks like. That's...that's Dean's soul."

Aiden scrunched up his face in thought. "But why doesn't he look like that now?"

"Well...everyone has a soul that you can't see, it's what will go to heaven or hell after you die." Sam was glad that he didn't have to explain the concept of Hell to Aiden. Marcy had already taught the kids about it in class. "Our souls, if we are good people, look just like we do. But...since he's a demon, his soul has been damaged after being in Hell, and that's what he looks like."

"But!" Aiden raised his voice and then clamped his hands over his mouth before continuing to whisper. "But Dean's a good person! He's not bad!"

Sam smiled sadly. "No, he's not a bad person. But he's been hurt really badly, and that will never go away. It's why he's not human anymore and is grumpy and mean sometimes."

Tears came to Aiden's eyes. "He...he'll never get better?"

"No. He's healed a little bit by being with me but he'll never fully heal. He's always going to look like that."

Aiden began to cry fully now. "I...I don't want Dean to look like that!"

"Are you scared of how Dean looked?" Sam asked, afraid of what the answer may be. He didn't blame Aiden of course, but if Aiden was frightened of Dean's soul, he wasn't sure what he could do to repair the trust and devotion Aiden once held for Dean.

"No! He wasn't scary! I love Dean and I just feel really bad and want him to get better." Aiden hiccupped, wiping at the tears on his face.

"Well..." Sam reached over and squeezed Aiden's hands in comfort. "Just think of this. Most demons look like scary monsters, like in the movies. They don't look human at all."

"Dean did!" The sadness was already leaving Aiden's voice. "Just like a human who was really hurt and sad. And he had a demon tail and horns."

"Exactly. That shows that Dean isn't like the other demons, that he's more human than most." Sam smiled. "And you don't have to worry about Dean being sad. Maybe he was a little sad right then, but he's happy, I promise. His soul is damaged, but he's happy to be alive and with us. Trust me, I know him better than anyone else."

"Thanks, Sam." Aiden ran over to Sam and hugged him tightly. "I feel better knowing that Dean's happy."

Sam led Aiden back into the room, where he hopped into the other bed to also take a nap.

Assuming Dean was asleep, Sam went to leave the room when he suddenly heard his brother's voice communicate through their telepathy.

 _What was that about?_ Dean's words weren't as clear, and his voice almost cut off, a sign that he was exhausted. Yet, he had still stayed up until Sam came back.

 _Just Aiden being worried about things going on, he's okay now. I talked to him._ Sam saw no reason to worry Dean with something that didn't matter.

_Mm, okay. 'Night Sammy._

_Goodnight Dean._ Sam smirked, not correcting his brother on the fact that it wasn't night. He was just happy Dean was able to get some much-deserved rest.

Sam pulled away from the lure of also getting some rest and made his way into the living room. There was a lot of planning to get done before they left, and he wanted to make sure they had as clear of a route as possible for their journey to the ranch.

* * *

By the end of the day, Sam felt confident enough in the route they planned to travel the next morning. Heather had helped to pinpoint the exact location of the ranch. There were a few different paths they could take.

They settled on planning to travel through mid-northern South Dakota. The entire state was mostly farmland so they would be out in the open. But in order to get into the forests, they would have to go much further north, and it wasn't worth the time or the gas they would waste.

Near the western edge of the state was a rather large national forest, and Sam decided that they should travel through it and stop there the first night to sleep. By this point, Dean had finally awoken from his nap and had agreed, stating that while they slept, they were the safest from the flying creature while under the protection of the forest.

The difficult part of the trip was going to be avoiding as many cities as possible. They couldn't avoid every town, of course, but their desire to stay away from the more populated areas meant they couldn't take a straight path and would have to take many turns, costing them more time.

Still, it was worth it to be safe. Sam could have spent hours more looking at that map and determining an exact path, but Dean had dragged him away to play some cards that he had taken from Hades' town.

They had fun playing some games together and then with some of the others in the group. Dean helped Marcy once again with dinner and everyone headed to bed early, except Bobby who was glued to Hades' journal, trying to translate as much as possible.

The next morning they packed quickly, eager to get on the road. In the days the rest of the group had been at the cabin, Bobby had been able to go through most of Rufus' belongings and take whatever seemed helpful.

"You find out anything in the journal?" Sam asked Bobby as they loaded the cars and filled the tanks with the remaining gasoline they had.

"My Greek is rusty, but I've managed to find a bit out...and Sam..." Bobby paused, eyeing the young hunter sadly. "It doesn't sound too good."

"What is it? Are we in danger?" The hairs on the back of Sam's neck stood up, goosebumps appeared over his skin, causing him to shiver. He didn't like the sound of Bobby's voice.

"Not much more than we are in now, but it could cause problems in the future. I'm gonna look it over more before I tell you anything. Gotta make sure I translate it all as correctly as possible and then tell everyone together in a group."

"But Bobby, we…" Sam stopped when a hand fell on his shoulder and began tugging him away.

"Come on," Dean said, still dragging Sam along. "Get your maps out and get in the passenger seat. I need my human GPS prepared and ready. I may not be able to read the thoughts you don't share with me, but I know what you're thinking. Stop."

Sam stopped walking and turned to face his brother. "Did you hear any of that? Bobby said…"

"Yeah, he said he'll tell us later and that he wants to read it more to make sure he translated everything right."

"But he said it's not good! We could…"

"Sam. I said quit it. Whatever it is we'll figure it out. Now come on, I need you alert and focused, you're the one leading the way."

Yeah, he knew Dean was right. The Impala was going to lead the line of cars and he was going to be in the passenger seat, looking over the maps and directing Dean on when to turn. He couldn't afford to be distracted by his worries.

"Okay." He nodded. "We'll worry about it when it's time."

"That's the spirit." Dean ruffled his hair and then pushed him the remaining distance to the car.

Sam rolled his eyes but got situated in the passenger seat, pulling out the maps he would need and opening up one on his lap. He had highlighted the route that he wanted them to take, but he was sure there would be obstacles preventing them from taking that exact path. He had already thought of alternate paths that would avoid big cities, so hopefully they would be set.

After a while, Dean got in the driver's seat, stroking his hand over his car's steering wheel in a way no man should ever touch an inanimate object.

"You sure you don't want me to drive in my own car? I can leave you two alone."

"Shut up. Do you know how worried I was about her? How long it's been?" Dean moved his hands to run them over the dashboard, making cooing noises the whole time. "Did you know she has three new dent marks from rocks? And there's this scratch that's…"

"Just be happy she didn't flip over like the other car. A few dents in this kind of world? I'd say take it and shut up." Sam grinned when Dean shot him a black-eyed glare.

Due to the fact that they only had six cars and the RV, Sam had been correct in assuming that people were going to share the Impala with them on the drive to the ranch. Dean told Sam that while Castiel still creeped him out with his strange behavior, he'd like to have him in the backseat to keep a lookout since he didn't sleep. Sadie also asked if she could drive with them, it was obvious she felt safest with the brothers, and Sam assumed after what happened to her, she didn't want to be apart from them just yet.

"You guys ready?" Dean asked, starting the ignition, using his good hand and his powers to help steady the wheel.

"I am prepared," Castiel said in his monotone voice.

"Let's get going," Sadie replied. "I want us to get safe at the ranch as soon as possible."

And with that, they were off.

* * *

Dean was pleased to say that the trip was going well so far. It was four hours in and nothing out of the ordinary had happened as they crossed from Minnesota into South Dakota. Sadie hadn't been up for talking and had passed out during the first half hour. Castiel was quiet for the most part, but when the brothers would talk, he would randomly interject comments when they weren't expecting it and then never follow up with the conversation. He was socially awkward to say the least, and the brothers had resorted to their telepathy to talk in order to avoid any more stilted conversation with the angel.

 _So we're coming up on the Missouri River,_ Sam told his brother, flipping through a few maps. _We need to decide which bridge we are going to cross._

 _Yeah, and we're gonna have to be damn careful,_ Dean added.

_Be careful for what?_

_Well, there's only a few roads that lead to bridges that go over the river. There might be groups of people guarding them that would try and set traps for the people that cross, knowing that these are the only paths to take to get to the other side of the state. It's what I would do._

_It's what you would do…that's encouraging._ Sam sounded exasperated, but not angry.

_Hey, I said it's what I WOULD do not what I'm going to do….maybe. You guys should all feel lucky to have my way of thinking helping you along. The mind of a demon…_

_Yeah, yeah. But you are right, that is a possibility I didn't think of. What should we do?_

_I say we pull over half a mile before a bridge and I'll go over and scout the area with someone else,_ Dean suggested. _If we don't see anyone for half an hour, we'll cross. Simple as that._

_Okay, but I'm going with you._

_No you're not._

_Dean, I'm not letting you…_

_Shut up and listen. I need you back with the rest of the group so I can communicate with you if I see anything and you can let them know. Got it?_

Dean could see that by the set of Sam's jaw, he hated the idea, but knew that his big brother was right. The last thing Sam wanted to do was agree, but Dean knew he had him with this one. Not only was he trying to keep Sam safe with the group, but Dean was also being honest when he said they needed the two-way communication.

_I don't like it, Dean. You better be careful and let me know as soon as something might happen._

_You know I will, Sammy._ Dean fought the urge to roll his eyes. Sam should know this already!

 _No, I don't know if you will._ Sam sounded more pissed off by the second. _You jumped into that RV without knowing who could have been inside it. You knew I didn't like the idea but did it anyway. What if there was some monster in there or it was full of Croats!_

 _It wasn't! If it was I would have teleported out!_ He realized how lame it sounded, but hey, it was true!

_Would you have let ME do that?_

There it was...Sam got him right where he knew it would affect him most. The younger Winchester had officially won this argument.

_Of course not!_

_Then what makes you think I want you to do the same? Dean, seriously. Listen to me more. We're better together._ Sam was pleading now. _I know you want to protect me, but I'm not losing you because someone else wasn't good enough to watch your back._

Dean stayed silent for a moment. He couldn't ignore that tone in Sam's voice. Sam was just as worried as Dean would be about him. He told himself before that he would give Sam more credit and listen to his brother's words.

_Okay, I won't do anything like that again without talking to you. I swear. Happy now?_

_You better promise._ Sam's mouth was set in a grim line and he refused to look Dean's way. Shit, he had really made the kid angry with his carelessness. He just couldn't help to always put Sam first and care so little about his own safety. It was just natural to him, even more so as a demon. But he'd try...if only for Sam's sake...he'd try.

Dean reached over, using his powers to fully control the wheel, and squeezed Sam's shoulder. That got his brother to look his way and they locked eyes.

After a moment, Sam smiled, just a bit but it was all that Dean wanted. He had been able to convey to his little brother by look alone that he wasn't lying...now he just had to make sure he didn't screw up.

_Okay, which bridge are we taking? I need to know where to go._

_Alright...there's a few. Let me see…_ Sam looked down at the maps and Dean breathed a sigh of relief that their argument was over. _There's one by Mobridge, but it looks like it might be a pretty decent sized town._

_We've been through some towns already though and other than some Croats, we haven't run into any trouble._

_But this one is bigger than any of the ones we had to go through._

_Yeah, but there's bound to be bigger cities by bridges._ Dean felt like he was pointing out the obvious.

 _You're right...let me just look some more._ He paused for a moment as he scanned the map. _Okay, there's Forest City crossing and Pierre. But Pierre looks even bigger. Forest City hardly seems to be a town at all._

_Alright, then Forest City it is. Where do I turn to get there?_

_Turn left so we're going south, then you'll have to turn right eventually. It shouldn't be more than forty minutes._

They continued driving along, getting closer to the road that would take them into Forest City, when Dean caught something from the corner of his eye. He quickly pulled the Impala over to the side of the road, the others doing the same behind him.

"Dean...what…," Sam started to ask but Dean just got out of the car and motioned for Sam to follow.

"Dean, would you like for us to follow?" Castiel asked from the backseat where Sadie was currently rubbing her eyes and waking up.

"Get out of the car but stay there and keep lookout," Dean told him, not slowing down as he spoke.

"What's going on?" Bobby yelled. He was standing by his car with a confused expression on his face.

"Follow me, that's what."

"Dean, really...what is it?" Sam asked, following close behind.

"See that street sign up there?" Dean pointed to a sign about a hundred feet back. "There was something written on it and I thought...well I want to make sure."

They rounded the sign and sure enough, there was something written on it...something not good.

**FOREST CITY**

**BRIDGE OUT**

The words were written in a black marker that was fading away, but the message was clear. Shit...Dean had no idea what to do now.

"Well….balls…" Bobby joined them at the sign with a loud sigh.

"How do we know if they're telling the truth though?" Dean asked the group that had formed around him, looking pointedly at Sam for his little brother's advice.

For once, Sam looked completely lost on their next step.

"We...we don't." Sam shook his head. "It could be a person that was just letting others know or...or maybe the bridge is okay and this person is trying to lead us to one of the other bridges where there's a trap waiting for us."

"Or maybe they live in one of the cities by the other bridges and charge some kind of fee...goods or ammo in exchange to pass," Carl spoke up. About half the group had decided to follow him, the others staying back near the cars. "That might be why they are trying to direct us away from this bridge, so we go to theirs."

"That doesn't sound like it would be so bad," someone else said.

"Yeah, and what if they try to shoot any one of you when we don't have what they want? Or if they decide they want to loot everything?" Dean growled into the group of people. "I say we at least check out this bridge. If it's still standing, we know whoever wrote this was lying and we scout the area and continue on if it's all clear."

Dean glanced up at his brother after his speech. _Come on, Sammy? Whaddya say about that? Is my idea a load of crap or can your genius brain not handle how awesome it is?_

Sam didn't start jabbering about a plan like Dean had hoped. Instead, he looked lost. _Dean...I don't know. Either way we take...there's a chance something could be wrong…_

Dean looked around at everyone else, who seemed to be staring at the brothers for some confirmation on what to do next. Since when did they become leaders of this group? Since when did everyone trust a demon to know their best chance at surviving?

"How about we take a vote," Bobby called out, causing both brothers to sigh in relief. It was actually a good idea. Now Dean couldn't be blamed if something went wrong. "We continue on to Forest City bridge or we go to one of the others."

They quickly held a vote. There were 17 people, including the brothers, who had gotten out of the vehicles and gathered around the sign. Sam and Dean, as well as 11 others chose to check out the Forest City bridge. Dean noticed that Allen was one of the six who had voted against it, the big chicken.

Nonetheless, no one complained as they continued on to Forest City. The 'city' wasn't much of a city at all, just a few scattered buildings and a gas station. They pulled over in what appeared to be a truck stop and grouped up for a break and to discuss who would scout the area by the bridge.

They decided it was best for only a few people to go check on the bridge, so after some consideration, Dean picked Carl to make the trip with him.

The fifteen minute walk was made mostly in silence, just like Dean preferred it. It wasn't until they were about five minutes away that Carl started jabbering.

"So….Hades huh?" he asked, referring to the town.

"Yep. Hades, alive and in the flesh. Well...not alive anymore, heh."

"Heather was telling me about it. These...there were people who were following him? That allowed rape in the town without trying to stop him?"

Dean shrugged. "Apparently a lot were too scared to do anything. But there were a lot that were trying to take him down, they just kept failing. He had a bunch of minions that they had to look out for."

"That's what I don't get though." Carl was shaking his head. "People _chose_ to follow him...they gladly did. Has...has what's left of humanity fallen that far already?"

"And people thought they had to be afraid of _me_." Dean chuckled. "There were a lot of sick bastards out there before, but now they don't have to behave for society."

"I guess so." Carl sighed. "I just had more hope for humanity, you know? I thought there would be more good that came from people in these situations...but it seems like we're only seeing bad so far."

"Now you sound like Sammy."

"Well, Sam has a point."

"He does. But I'm gonna tell you exactly what I tell him. After I came back from Hell I realized that there was bound to be some good monsters out there. Me and Sam just didn't run into them or hear about them because they were smart and stayed in hiding, didn't get into trouble. And with…"

"And you think it's the same with people," Carl finished, understanding his point. "That there are good people out there still, they are just keeping well hidden so they can survive."

"Bingo. You believe me?"

"Well yeah, I mean I have hope that you're right."

"Good, now I just wish Sammy would believe me."

"He's your brother, it's his job to give you a hard time." Carl smiled.

"Yeah, yeah. He's a pain in the ass that's for sure." Dean shook his head fondly, finally seeing the bridge up ahead. "Hey, there it is. Let's stick to the side of the road and check it out."

They headed over to the right side of the road, trying to keep near the trees. From this vantage point, they had a clear view of the bridge...a bridge that was fully intact.

"Well, it looks like we made the right choice," Carl said. "The message was a fake to direct us to the other bridges."

"Yep, and we would have gotten looted I bet." Dean peered into the binoculars he brought with him, trying to notice any sign of something that may be out of the ordinary.

A rustling noise had him stopping. Carl jumped and pulled out his gun, and Dean held out his hand toward the direction of the noise. He saw nothing but overgrown grass….and then…

"Stupid damn raccoon." Dean shook his head, using his powers to send the animal sliding away onto the other side of the road, where it scurried into some bushes. "I'm tired of waiting here."

"But...we just got here."

"I know, but I'm bored already. Here," Dean handed Carl the binoculars. "I'm going to teleport around the area and see if I find anything. You keep a lookout in the distance."

Dean spent about ten minutes teleporting around the area. He went under the bridge and to the other side, all the while seeing and sensing nothing out of the ordinary. When he regrouped with Carl, the man stated that he also saw nothing but a few animals.

_Bridge is standing strong, Sammy. Coast is clear. How about you guys meet us over here?_

The group headed over and after checking out the area for a few minutes, everyone agreed that it was a good idea to cross and carry on with their journey.

Ten minutes after crossing the bridge, Dean was just thinking about how luck seemed to be finally on their side.

The sound of a gunshot, more specifically, a sniper rifle, was clearly heard as it pierced metal.

Dean slammed on the brakes. He, Sam and Sadie quickly glanced around the car. Dean didn't see any damage, but he did notice that the cars behind him also pulled over and some people had jumped out of their vehicles, taking off into the dried up cornfield to their left.

"It did not hit this car, it was one behind us," Castiel told him in a tone much too calm for the situation that was at hand.

Another gunshot rang out, this one sounding closer than the last.

All Dean could think about was getting Sam as far away from the sound as possible.

"Get out of the car!" he yelled, jumping out and not bothering to close the door behind him. He didn't care to notice where Sadie and Cas were running to, his only focus was on his brother.

He grabbed Sam by the arm in order to keep him close and they took off running.

_Dean! What the hell! Who's shooting at us?_

_I don't know and I don't care! We need to get as far away from it as possible before we decide how to take them down!_

_The message on the sign Dean! It wasn't a lie, I think it was a warning! They were trying to get us to not take this road!_

Another gun fired before Dean could think about Sam's realization, and this time it wasn't a sniper. It sounded like a pistol...and the shooter wasn't very far away.

There was more than one shooter. Damn it! He could try teleporting around with Sam, but he didn't trust himself in his panicked state, and he didn't want to end up right in front of one of the shooters and put Sam at risk.

 _They might be behind us,_ Dean told Sam. _Let's zig zag so we throw them off our path._ He looked at his brother as they ran, not happy with how far Sam was from him. He sent his powers out and brought Sam close to his side. _And stay close to me, Sammy!_

_What, so you can jump in the way if they shoot at me?_

_Yes, exactly!_

_What if they have a bullet that could kill you! We don't know if this is someone working for Eve! She could have made somethin…_

Someone screamed to their right. When Dean looked over he saw one of the kids trip and fall down. He recognized her as Emily, the girl who had tried to grab the flaming firework on their Fourth of July celebration.

 _Dean!_ Sam was pointedly looking at the young girl.

_She'll get up, Sammy! They won't shoot a kid!_

As if to prove his point, a man emerged from the cornstalks right behind Emily, his gun raised and pointed right at her.

Before Dean could even process what to do, he heard his brother yell.

"Hey, jackass! Over here!"

In the flash of a second, the man spun around and shot his gun without hesitation.

There was a spurt of blood and Sam went down.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to share some art I had made for this series. This was made by littleskrib.tumblr.com. It is from the scene in Roads Untraveled where Sam rescues Dean from Alastair. Sam is helping to support Dean as he aims the Colt to end Alastair's life. I love the outcome and all the detail! (Click the picture to view the full size).

[ ](http://i64.tinypic.com/2emftx4.png)

 

 

Dean saw the blood spray from Sam's arm and his brother fall to the ground. Before he could even react, just a second later he felt a bullet rip through his chest. The feeling was as if someone had pinched him; hardly any pain, but still noticeable.

He didn't care that someone had just tried to kill him. No...this man who had shot him had also shot Sammy.

This man could have killed his brother.

Dean could feel the rage building up inside of him. It was like a switch had been flipped and he felt his demonic powers surging beneath his skin. His gaze narrowed in on the shooter, grinning as he saw the expression in the man's eyes change from confusion over why the bullet didn't affect him, to horror upon the realization of what he had just shot.

The man tried to run, but Dean held him in place with only a thought. He should make this as painful as possible… but if he even began to torture this man, Dean knew he wouldn't be able to control the floodgates that would come down. He couldn't lose himself, especially when Sam needed him right now. He growled, knowing that he had to make this death quick instead of slowly slaughtering the bastard piece by piece.

Before he could convince himself to change his mind, Dean twisted his wrist, snapping the man's neck by the use of his powers alone.

Without a second glance, Dean knelt down by his brother in a panic, ignoring the young girl who was curled at Sam's side. Logically, he knew he saw Sam get shot in the arm, but his mind was telling him it could be much worse. He had to make sure… Sammy had to be okay...

Sam was looking up at him and for a moment, the look reminded Dean of the brief instant Sam locked eyes with him right when he had gotten stabbed by Jake in Cold Oak. No, no, no, no...

_Dean… Dean… I'm okay. Can you let go now?_

Dean shook his head at the sound of Sam's voice and focused. His hands were holding Sam's shoulders and squeezing tightly and he hadn't even realized it.

_You kept saying my name over and over and I was talking back, but it was like you didn't hear me. Are you with me now?_

Dean tried to focus in and respond to Sam… either with his voice or through their telepathy, but it was like his mind was in a haze. Sam… was he really okay? Or was his mind imagining this to protect him from what had really happened?

 _You… but… shot… you were shot…_ Dean finally managed to send out, or at least he thought so.

_Yeah… It's just my arm. It hurts but I'll be okay. Dean… Dean! Don't get lost okay, stay right here with me! Look at my arm… It's just my arm… I'm okay._

Dean used Sam's voice to lead him back and the world slowly became more clear. He blinked a few times, trying to get his bearings and then looked over at Sam's arm.

There was a bullet wound in Sam's upper arm, there was blood...blood...blood…

_Dean...hey hey hey…it's not bad. It's not serious! Come on, I need you here, don't check out on me now._

Not serious? Sammy was bleeding! How could this not be serious? It was then when he felt a hand squeezing his bicep. He turned to look at the hand and then followed it back to the person it was attached to.

Sam. Sam was grabbing onto him. Sammy wasn't dead.

"Oh thank god, I think you're back," Sam whispered, smiling softly. "I know this had to have freaked you out but you don't have to worry. I'm fine. Now we have to work on getting back to safety and taking these guys down. Are you okay enough to do that?"

Oh, right. Everything started coming back to him. The guy who shot Sam had other people with him. And those people might shoot Sam again if he didn't stop them…

"Where are they?" Dean asked, his voice coming out hoarse. He grabbed Sam's arm to inspect the wound. The bullet was still in there and the wound was still bleeding. He needed to get that out and clean it.

But Sammy would be okay.

Dean ripped off a piece of his shirt and quickly tied it above the hole in Sam's arm. Hopefully this would stop enough of the bleeding that Sam wouldn't pass out from blood loss.

"I don't know where they are," Sam was saying, pulling his arm away with a look that read 'I'm fine, quit worrying'. "I think there's a sniper and there were a few people running through the fields. We can keep low and stay out of the sniper's view but how are we going to see the others with all these corn husks?"

Sam thought the same as Dean then, that there was a sniper and at least one other man running through the corn field. The other man could be anywhere….he could come up and shoot Sam at any moment. He had no way of being able to find where the man was….unless…

Unless he could get a bird's eye view of the field.

"Sammy, do you feel strong enough to set me free?"

Sam wrapped an arm around the scared little girl who he had saved and raised an eyebrow at Dean. "Set you...what?"

"Free! Smoke form! I can get a view from the sky and possess one of the bastards and use him to kill the other ones!"

"Yeah...yeah, I still feel fine enough to do that. But you have to be careful!"

"They can't do anything to hurt me!" Dean pointed out.

"What if they can! We don't know what they…"

"They're human, Sam," Dean interrupted his brother. "I snapped his neck and he died. I just gotta get close enough to take the other two down and it's a piece of cake."

"Okay. But still...be careful."

"I will. You stay down and keep a good lookout. Don't get up for _anyone_ , not even the kids, do you hear me?"

"Okay, yes. Now get ready." Sam held out his hand and Dean felt the now-familiar sensation of his soul pulling free from his body. He let himself continue to drift upward once he was completely out and kept going until he could see a large expanse of the cornfield down below.

Dean surveyed the field below him. He could see many members of his group sprinting through the fields, but couldn't quite pinpoint where the shooters were.

After a moment, Dean spotted a man wielding a gun, who was aiming at a small group of people. He was about to whip down and go possess the man when he saw Castiel step in front of the victims and take the bullet to his chest. The man who shot him seemed to freeze up, probably due to shock from Castiel not being fazed by the bullet wound. The angel used the opportunity to stab the man with his angel blade.

Okay, good. One down. Now he just had to figure out how many more were left.

Dean turned his attention to the left, and that was when he saw the sniper. There was a man on the roof of a dilapidated-looking barn. He was shooting sporadically, and his aim was off. There was probably too much commotion that he didn't know where to shoot. As long as people stayed down, he wouldn't be able to see them.

Figuring he could save the sniper for last, Dean decided to get the ones in the field first. He scanned the cornstalks, always keeping the area where Sam was hiding in his field of vision.

The sound of a gunshot caught Dean's attention. It wasn't coming from the location of the sniper, but somewhere in the corn field. He flew toward the area where he heard the sound and it didn't take him long to spot a man running through the field, chasing what looked to be Heather and Carl.

Time to get into action.

He shot down from the sky, and with precise accuracy he landed right in front of the man. The guy hardly had the time to react to the dark black smoke that was hovering in his way before Dean possessed him.

Instantly, Dean opened the man's mind and allowed himself to access his thoughts. In a matter of seconds, he knew everything this shooter knew. The most important bit of information was that there was no other men in the field. Just this one and the sniper on the barn roof.

"De…. Dean?" It was Carl who spoke up. He was standing in front of Heather, protecting her.

"Yeah, it's me," Dean answered in the man's nasally voice. "I'm gonna take the sniper out. You guys stay down. And if you see anyone else, tell them to do the same!"

He started to run toward the barn so he could get closer in order to teleport on top of it. That was when he saw Allen out of the corner of his eye. Someone fell on top of his former nemesis and it took Dean only a moment to realize that it wasn't a person...but a Croat.

Shit..there were Croats in the field, too. He waited a moment to see if Allen could hold his own.

Of course he couldn't. The man began to scream and shove at the Croat and Dean decided to jump in and get rid of this problem quickly. He grabbed the machete the man had on him and grabbed the Croat by the hair with his other hand. Damn, it was good to have the use of both hands, even with the advantage of demon powers. With one swift movement, he cut off the Croat's head.

Allen was still laying on the ground, staring at something. Dean let out an irritated huff. He didn't have time for this and would gladly leave him to have his panic attack, but if Allen started freaking out and screaming again, he could alert more Croats….and that could put Sammy in danger.

"Come on, are you with me? I need to know you're listening. You have to stay down and…" Dean grabbed the man by his shirt and flipped him over so they were face to face. It was then when he saw what Allen was staring at.

It was his hand...his hand that clearly had a bite mark on it, dripping blood down his arm.

Dean didn't waste a second. He used his powers and shoved Allen so he was lying with his stomach to the ground. He then held the man's arm with one hand and swiftly brought down the machete he still wielded.

Allen's hand was severed cleanly off his arm before the man had even registered what Dean was doing.

His scream was delayed, and Dean didn't think Allen even knew what he was screaming about, just that he was suddenly in unimaginable pain.

"SHUT UP!" Dean attempted to yell as quietly as he could. Crap. He had planned to leave Allen here while he killed the sniper, but that obviously wasn't going to work out. Apparently, getting your hand chopped off hurt more than he remembered.

"Wuss, wait a second." He focused and froze Allen's vocal cords for the moment and held him in place. Dean brought the machete down one more time. This time...through his meat suit's stomach. "There, he's dead. Now it's your turn for some fun with Dean."

He left the grimy body quickly. Dean was glad to ditch it, but it wasn't like he was looking forward to possessing a guy who despised him for so long.

Before Allen could start screaming some more, he entered through his mouth and quickly shut down Allen's mind. He did _not_ want to have any memories shared with this guy. Things were already weird enough between them with their awkward truce; he didn't need Allen to hate him more if the man had memories of the possession.

He focused on the bleeding arm. He would be able to heal it to a nice, scar-free stump just fine, no surgery or recovery time necessary, but he couldn't reattach the hand...normally he would be able to, but not with a hand that was infected with Croatoan.

Allen had been lucky. Dean didn't even know if amputating the affected area would have worked. He thought that since the bite had just happened, there may be a chance it hadn't spread.

And it hadn't. If the disease had spread in Allen's body, Dean wouldn't have been able to possess him. By removing the hand, Dean had removed the infected area completely.

Heh, maybe Dean could even make him a hook-hand, that would be fun to make. Allen owed him _big time._

The stump would take time to heal, but it already had stopped bleeding. Dean didn't have time to wait for the process to complete, he needed to kill the sniper _now_.

He ran closer to the barn. The pain that would accompany a human who had lost a hand was merely an uncomfortable tingle for him. It didn't distract him at all as he got close enough to the barn and teleported on top of the roof.

He didn't even give the sniper a chance to turn around. Dean used his powers and knocked the gun out of his hands and into Allen's remaining one. With practiced ease, Dean aimed and fired right into the back of the man's skull.

Dean didn't allow himself a breath of relief just yet. He had to make sure Sammy was okay.

_Sammy, you okay?_

_I'm fine. We're still hiding. Do you see the sniper? I just heard him shoot again._

_That was me, I got him in the back of the head. All the guys are gone now. I possessed the one and found out that there were only three of them out here; they guard this area and try to kill anyone that might drive by and take their stuff. They have a town just north of here. Get back to the cars and tell anyone you can find to come back too._

_Okay, I'll do that. But what about your body?_

_Leave it, I'll go possess it later. Is your arm okay? Are you bleeding too much? I gotta get that bullet out…_

_DEAN. I'm fine. It can wait. Please, we gotta get everyone back first and get away from this area, then we can take care of my arm._

_Like hell. I'm not letting you bleed out on my watch. I'm patching that up as soon as I get back in my body. Oh, and by the way, I'm in Allen now. Don't ask...idiot was stupid enough to get himself hurt and I came in to save the day._

_I…I'm not even going to ask right now._ Dean could picture Sam shaking his head. _Just hurry back._

Dean ran into Heather and Carl again on his way back. Both were still hiding in the corn stalks.

"They're all dead, get up and follow me back to the cars," he told them.

Carl stared at his black eyes in complete confusion. "...Dean?"

"Quit asking me that. Yes, it's me. Now come on."

"What…" Carl followed after him with Heather in tow. "What are you doing possessing Allen...and...oh god...his hand!"

"Idiot got bit by a Croat. I chopped his hand off thinking it might save him. It worked and I'm possessing him to heal it into a stump. Got it, or do I have to talk slower?"

"Oh okay, one of our own just got bit and needed to get his hand chopped off, no big deal." Dean saw Carl rolling his eyes. "He...he let you just cut it off?"

"You think I asked for his permission? Hell no, I held him down and sliced it off and possessed him before he could start crying about the pain."

"Well…" Carl huffed. "I mean, I guess your quick actions saved his life."

"Dude, I saved his life and his freaking soul. If he turned, he'd be in Hell! Don't you think that's worth having your hand chopped off and being possessed?"

"Yeah...I know...sorry. It's just...it's crazy."

"Wow, that's healing fast!" Heather walked over, poking at the arm.

"What!" Carl shook his head. "You too? It's not cool!"

"See, even your girlfriend can see how awesome I am. In a few more minutes, it will be perfectly healed, no pain at all. Heck, I could heal someone whose guts got ripped open! I'd just have to shove them back in and my awesome demon powers would do the rest!"

"What about someone whose brains got blown out?" Heather asked, sounding like an excited student who was eager to learn.

"Well, I could...but I'd have to…"

"Okay, okay okay! I don't want to hear it!" Carl pushed at Dean. "That's disgusting, now I can't get that image out of my head."

"You think that's nasty, try actually going to Hell and getting your insides put through a paper shredder!"

Carl's face fell. "Oh...I…Dean…."

"I'm teasing! But it did happen. Not so much fun, but eh, whatever."

A moment later, they arrived back at the cars and Dean spotted Sam immediately, heading right toward him.

"Let me get that bullet out," he grabbed Sam's arm with Allen's remaining hand but Sam pushed him away.

"Oh my god, his hand! What the hell happened?"

Great, he was going to have to explain this again. "The shooting apparently attracted Croats and one of them attacked Allen. I killed it but the thing already bit his hand, so I chopped it off and tried to see if the disease hadn't spread so I could possess and heal him. He'll be fine, the stump is already almost healed and he's Croatoan-free."

"I…" Sam looked down at the stump and then back up at Dean. "That was really quick thinking. You...after how he treated you...you still tried to save his life?"

Dean shrugged. "I only did it because he'll owe me and have to pay me back. He'll probably do whatever I ask of him. Now, give me that arm, I have to stay in this body a bit longer so I can fix it now."

Dean grabbed a first aid kit before they sat down on the back of the Impala. He focused on the bullet wound and was able to apply pressure with his demon powers to push the bullet upward and out of his brother's arm. As soon as the bullet was free, blood starting pouring out, but Dean was ready with some gauze. He sent it floating onto Sam's wound and made sure it was pressed tightly against it. The gauze quickly filled with blood and Dean exchanged it with some more, repeating the process a few times.

"It missed your bone," Dean said quietly. "That's good." He was no longer worried about if Sam was going to be okay. He would be fine, and hopefully the demon blood would help him heal quicker than he normally would. But still, it had been a close call...Dean could have lost his brother and he had been standing right next to him…

"You pushed me, you know," Sam answered, again reading Dean's mind without actually reading it. "With your powers. It didn't seem like you realized it but the bullet was originally aimed toward my chest."

"I did?"

"Yeah, I think it was some subconscious effort to try and save me even though you didn't even have the proper time to react." Sam smiled at him. "Don't beat yourself up about it, you were still able to protect me."

"Why'd you have to go screaming at the damn guy with a gun anyway?" Dean internally growled at himself when his voice cracked at the end of his sentence.

"I didn't know if he was seriously going to shoot Emily. I couldn't take that chance, Dean. I panicked and yelled; I wasn't thinking he was going to shoot me so fast without any time for me to react."

"You can't keep going and doing shit like that! She's just a girl, Sam! She's not more important than you!"

Sam pressed his lips together, a sure sign that he was pissed. "No, she's _not_ more important than me, she's equally important! She's just an innocent child! Would you rather have her die?"

"If it meant saving you, then hell yes!"

Sam frowned, his voice seemed tired. "Dean…"

"I'm not saying I wanted her dead! I'm just not gonna risk saving anyone if it puts you in danger! Why is this even a discussion? You tell me to stop worrying about you so much and then you do stuff like this. What am I supposed to think, huh?"

Sam continued to look down at the ground, not speaking.

"Come on Sammy, I'm not trying to be a dick. I'm trying to get you to understand something. You were just telling me to value my life more and not do stupid things to protect you that might kill me. I'm telling you the same...don't do stupid things to protect people that put your life in danger."

Sam nodded. "I know...I know, you're right. And I….I would have done the same thing, you know?"

"Same what?"

"When you said you'd let someone else die to save me….I'd do the same, I wouldn't hesitate."

"I know that," Dean replied, causing Sam to look up at him in surprise. "What? I do. I know you would. Now don't just sit there, help me apply pressure to your wound and give me a hand." He waved Allen's almost-healed stump in the air and snickered.

The look on Sam's face told him his brother didn't find the joke amusing in the slightest, but he helped press on the wound anyway.

"Hey, the kid okay?" Dean motioned to Emily who was being tended to by Marcy.

Sam raised an eyebrow and Dean couldn't figure out why. "Yeah, she's fine. She's just shaken up."

"Good, don't need you almost getting killed for nothing."

Sam huffed. "Well, you'll be pleased to know I didn't."

They entered a comfortable silence and while Dean was working on disinfecting the wound, Bobby came over. He was concerned about Sam and started asking what the hell had happened. Dean had to once again go through the annoying process of explaining what had happened to Allen and that he was healing him, and what he knew about the men he had killed. More people approached, but Bobby shooed them away and thankfully explained the situation to anyone who asked after that.

After a few more minutes, Dean was pleased that Sam's wound didn't seem too bad off. "I should be able to stitch this up just fine, let me just…"

"Dean. No. Get back into your body first. Allen's arm is healed. Did you hear what Bobby has been saying over there? There's still a bunch of our people out in the field and since a Croat bit Allen there may be more out there too. You can help round everyone up and bring them back."

"Who cares? Your arm…"

"My arm is _fine_. I'll keep applying pressure on it. You can fly overhead and see where everyone is and bring them back. Then hurry and get back into your body. It's weird talking to you in Allen's body…" Sam scrunched up his face.

"Fine! I don't think I can stand another minute in his meat-suit anyway."

Dean quickly exited Allen's body and flew overhead. It wasn't difficult to spot the remaining people aimlessly running around in the cornfields. It was pretty amusing, and Dean entertained himself by watching them for a few moments.

_DEAN! What are you doing? Go help them!_

_No more TV so I gotta entertain myself somehow, Sammy. They look like those mice you throw in a maze and they freak out trying to find the food…_

_That's NOT funny. Stop wasting time! The sooner you get them back, the sooner we can get out of here and find a safe place to rest!_

Dean internally sighed. He knew Sam was right, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He flew over to the first few people, startling them when he floated down in front of them.

The woman screamed and before they could turn and run, Dean used that opportunity to zap her on the nose.

The man who was with her seemed to calm down. "Dean?" he asked.

Dean flipped and then floated above the corn slightly, moving back in the direction of the cars. They caught on after a few minutes, and Dean repeated the process with the rest of the stragglers from their group.

He found his body near Sam and the vehicles. It turned out that Carl had dragged it back for him, allowing the man to go up a few points in Dean's book. Sam let him back inside his body, and finally he was able to stretch. He winced at the pain that returned in his bad arm and turned to face his brother.

Of course Sam was busy talking to Allen. A few people were gathered around the man, who looked shell-shocked. As soon as he saw Dean, Allen stood up, walking toward him.

"Dean...I…"

"Before you piss and moan about me chopping off your hand, it had to be done. Wouldn't you rather…"

"Dean!" It was Sam that hissed at him. "Shut up and let him finish."

Allen smiled at Sam before looking back at Dean. "I was going to tell you thanks….for saving my life."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "Your honestly okay with...that?" He pointed to Allen's new stump.

"No, of course I'm not! But that's not on you, it's on me for panicking and letting myself get attacked. I'd be dead if it weren't for you. And while this," he waved his shortened arm up in the air, "is going to take a lot of getting used to, I'd much rather be alive than dead."

"Well...okay. Now you're even more of a liability to yourself and us so you better pay more attention."

Dean saw Sam huff and smack a hand over his face in frustration, but Allen didn't seem upset at his words. "I know that. That's why I'm hoping when we find that ranch and settle down, that you can...maybe help me train and be able to shoot a gun?"

"I've gotta train you too? Damn, you all owe me." Dean shook his head. He was _not_ looking forward to this.

"I do owe you. We all do. I...I see that now. After how I acted...you still saved my life. Really, thank you Dean."

"Uh-uh. Okay, enough! I only saved you because you're entertaining to pick on. Now, can we focus on other things? Like the fact that the message on that sign was a warning trying to direct us out of here?"

"Why would someone run back after surviving the shooting to write that and warn people though?" someone asked.

"I think…" It was Sam who started speaking, and Dean gratefully let his brother take over. "I think that maybe when another group of people just like us got attacked, most of them probably didn't make it, but maybe a few people did escape and ran back because they were afraid to go forward any more? They wrote the sign to warn others and went to try another way across."

"That's probably it," Bobby said. "Dean, did you find anything out while possessing that guy?"

"Yeah, they're just normal humans who kill anyone that crosses the bridge and steal their loot. Damn scavengers. They live in a little community of tents and campers up on a tucked away bay of the river."

"We can't let them continue to kill people!" Sam sounded desperate. "We have to invade their camp and stop them!"

Dean shook his head, and to his surprise mostly everyone else seemed to as well. "We can't do that, Sammy. You already got hit as it is, I'm not risking that again. We have more important things to worry about, like getting the hell out of here before someone from their group realizes their guys never came back!"

"After we find our settlement, we can come back, Sam," Bobby chimed in. "But Dean's right. We have to focus on the mutation and Eve first. There's bound to be a lot of towns just like theirs, and we can deal with them in time."

"Besides, I've had enough crazy-town-invading to last me a few years," Dean huffed.

Sam locked eyes with Dean, and something seemed to click. He was probably remembering how wound-up Dean had become in Hades' town and how bad his mentality had been while he was in there. As much as Dean hated that, right now he wouldn't complain.

"Okay," Sam agreed. "Let's get a move on."

* * *

They stopped for half an hour at a farmhouse to stitch up the injured, but other than that, they made no other stops until they made it into the Black Hills National Forest. Even little Emily, who sat curled up to Sam's side in the passenger seat, kept quiet the entire ride.

Sam was relieved that they had managed to make it without any more incidents. They had left the road that the shooting had taken place on right away, and since then had driven in a zigzag pattern. It cost time, but Sam was certain it was safer.

Their time was also extended by the fact that they avoided Rapid City, which was right on the border of the forest. They decided to enter the forest well-south of the city to avoid any chance of Croats or monsters.

But now, they were surrounded by trees and mountains and Sam finally allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief. He still wanted them to get off the bigger road they were on though, and he tapped on Dean's shoulder to get his attention.

"I think that's a smaller road… Let's turn right here and drive a little ways on it, and then pull over into the woods."

"Make sure it's near a river," Dean told him. "Everyone's gotta bathe. I'm not sleeping in a tent full of B.O. again."

"It looks like there will be a small one back here in a clearing. Maybe we should even stop here for a few days to rest and really plan out our route to avoid any more major roads."

"Sounds like a plan. I'm crapped out."

Sam was shocked Dean didn't argue and demand that they keep going as soon as dawn broke. He wanted to say something, but wasn't quite sure what he should say. Instead of thinking too much about it, shouldn't he just be thankful that Dean agreed with his idea?

So he kept quiet as they pulled off the dirt road and into the clearing. They parked their vehicles on the edge of the forest and immediately began setting up the tents.

"You," Dean pointed to Castiel. "Is the water in the creek clean?"

Castiel walked over and stuck a hand in the water. "It is free of the Croatoan virus."

"Good, now everyone take a damn bath!" Dean ripped open his duffle bag to reveal bars of soap. "And make the soap last!"

"It's only 5:30, so we have a lot of daylight left. Let's make it count and get everything that we'll need for the night ready," Sam told everyone.

Bobby helped Sam assign tasks for some people while the remainder took baths in the creek. No one seemed to mind bathing out in the open with so many people around. It was either the fact that no one cared because they were so tired and worn out, or that there was a strong level of trust within the group now. Whatever it was, it made things easier.

It didn't take too long before the tents were set up, the water filled in bottles and purified, and the wood gathered for a fire. Dean decided to take up fishing, ordering Sam to stay back and rest his arm while grumbling that he could do it alone. But it was quickly argued by not just Sam, but everyone else in the group, that no one was to do anything alone, no matter how simple of the task. Bobby offered to join Dean, and Sam hoped the older man could figure out whatever was causing his brother to be so distant.

Finding himself with not much more he could do with his injured arm, Sam walked over to where Heather and Carl were sitting. Carl seemed to be upset about something while Heather was attempting to cheer him up. If he couldn't help set up, the least Sam figured he could do was help someone emotionally.

"Hey, how are you guys feeling?" Sam asked, sitting on the fallen tree trunk next to them.

"Well, you know...we just got shot at and almost killed. Doing great!" Carl laughed sarcastically.

"I keep trying to tell him that not everyone is going to be murderers. There are tons of good people left out there, we just haven't met them yet," Heather said hopefully, rubbing Carl's shoulder. Sam took note of the gesture and for the first time wondered if there was something between the two of them. He was dreading when Dean found out...he was bound to never shut up about it and tease the two of them to death.

"What about you, Sam?" Carl asked. "Even your brother had some inspiring words about the hope of mankind."

Sam raised an eyebrow. He couldn't imagine Dean being inspirational, but he knew his brother had hope. The fact that he had shared this with someone other than Sam spoke volumes.

"Well… I know for a fact there are good people out there. We saw them in Hades' town. They fought back against him and his minions," Sam told him.

"Yeah, but according to you guys, those people let a crazy man that promoted rape run their town! What is wrong with people? Do you believe that those guys...as weak as they were, are going to make it very long on their own?"

Sam sighed, he knew the answer to that. "As much as I want them to make it...I don't think they will."

"Exactly." Carl sighed. "The good people seem to be weaker and are dying off. We're left with only the murderers and rapists."

"That's not true." Sam shook his head, refusing to believe it. "We're all still here. There's bound to be others who are as well. But I understand how you feel...I...I'm kind of struggling with the fact that we have to kill people."

"We have to though!" Heather spoke up. "Or they'd kill us!"

"That's the thing… I _know_ that we have to. And well... it feels easy. Shouldn't it be harder to take a human life? I'm afraid of what that says about me sometimes."

There, he had finally said it. Sam had been worried about the lengths he would take to protect Dean and his group for quite some time. It all felt so right and it scared him. He knew deep in the back of his mind that it wasn't the demon blood. He was still a good person and never had a single thought that would be considered 'evil', but he couldn't help but think about it.

To Sam's utter surprise, both Carl and Heather _laughed_.

"Of course you'd be the person to worry about something like that!" Carl chuckled. "Sam, you don't have anything to worry about, there's nothing wrong with you."

"We all feel like you do, Sam!" Heather reached over and squeezed his shoulder. "I mean, at least me and Carl do, we already talked about it. If you don't think like that, then you won't survive. And honestly, I feel safe knowing that there's people in my group that are strong like that and will fight for all of us and our survival."

Carl put an arm around Heather, confirming Sam's earlier suspicions. "I couldn't have said it any better myself. It's not like we're killing good people. This is the new way of life now and it's best if we adjust quickly."

Sam nodded, feeling relieved that other people were experiencing the same thing as him. "Yeah, you're right. I've always said, 'it doesn't matter what you are, it matters what you do'. These people might be human, but that doesn't mean they're any good."

"I bet you use that motto with Dean." Heather smiled.

Sam laughed. "Yeah, exactly. I've always thought that not all 'monsters' are bad. And now, with Dean…it just proves that thought even more."

"What was Dean like?" Heather asked. "Before he was a demon?"

Carl stared at Heather in horror. "You don't just ask a question like that!"

"What? I'm just curious! Aren't you? Someone who was human before and turned into a demon?"

"All demons were humans!"

"Yeah, but Dean's different. He remembers who he was… He still acts kind of human. I just wonder how different he was before, that's all!"

"Guys!" Sam laughed. "It's okay. I don't mind. Dean probably wouldn't mind either. But it's hard to explain. A lot changed… yet it didn't. He was always annoying and snarky...but now he has no filter. He always took advantage of food, sleep and sex, but now he holds back even less."

"Was he always such a grump?" Heather asked. Carl smacked his forehead, but Sam found Heather's bluntness endearing. He was sure a part of Carl did as well, or else he wouldn't be into her.

"No, not really. That's something that took me some time to adjust to. He's more moody. Or maybe he always was, but now he doesn't hide it. He's quicker to anger and he's more protective than he ever was… I think it has to do with all that he went through and experienced. He used to be better at communicating with people." Sam frowned a bit. That was one thing he really felt bad about. He wished his brother would have an easier time fitting in, but he was already doing better by leaps and bounds. "He's awkward now, gets defensive easily and he is emotionally detached from everything other than me. He was a really caring person before."

Sam was expecting to be overcome with intense sadness when he talked about the person his brother used to be. But it never came. Sure, he wished things were easier for Dean, but he never once felt that he wanted Dean to change from the person he was now.

"So basically, he's still who he was, just with some modifications and a lack of sympathy?" Carl asked.

"Yeah, basically." Sam realized that even Dean's love for kids was still there in a way. It wasn't the joyful smile he used to get when he interacted with a kid, but he tolerated them when he could just push them out of the way. And the way he was with Aiden showed that Dean still had the ability and will to connect with a child.

"Got us some grub, Sasquatch."

Sam jumped at the sound of his brother's voice from behind him. He had been so distracted in his thoughts that he hadn't even sensed Dean coming. Or maybe he was so used to Dean being right there by his side that he didn't think anything of it.

"Speak of the devil…" Carl laughed.

"Demon. Speak of the demon. Get your facts straight. I'm no fallen angel scumbag." Dean then narrowed his eyes. "You were talking about me?"

"Sam was telling us how you've always been obsessed with food, sleep and sex, Oh, and that you were always annoying," Heather piped in.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Oh don't worry. I have tons of childhood stories of my own that I can torment him with telling you all." There was a gleeful sparkle in his eyes, and while Sam would normally dread what was coming for him, he was glad that Dean's mood had seemed to do a 180. Bobby appeared to have come through once again.

"You catch a lot?" Sam stood up, walking away from Heather and Carl with his brother.

Dean held up the massive net of fish with a grin.

"Where the hell did you get that net?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "Something else the group found while we were separated?"

"Yep, and it's handy as hell. Now we don't have to fill them in small buckets."

"Not that I'm complaining, but what's with your mood swing? You would hardly talk to me in the car."

Dean shrugged, but didn't seem to get angry like Sam expected. "I was pissed at you putting yourself in danger for getting hurt. Still am. But you're okay. And we'll make sure it doesn't happen again." Dean looked at Sam right in the eyes, waiting for a confirmation.

"We will, I promise." Yep, Bobby had talked Dean into letting go of some of his worry and convinced him to trust Sam's word that he wouldn't do something stupid like that again.

"Good." Dean dumped the net of fish on the grass near the campfire people were building. "How's the arm?"

"It hurts a bit, but nothing too bad. I can still use it, just no heavy lifting or anything like that."

Dean nodded and then placed a hand on Sam's shoulder. He simply locked eyes with his brother, and with that one look, said more than any amount of words could. He didn't even need to use the telepathy, it was all right there.

Dean was glad he was okay but he was worried about him. He was going to make sure Sam was safe and that nothing bad ever happened to him again.

He squeezed Sam's shoulder tightly before removing his hand.

"Since your arm is okay then, get to work cooking these fish. You're not getting away with not doing anything after I worked so hard to catch them."

Sam laughed, typical Dean couldn't have a chick-flick moment last too long, even one where words weren't spoken. "Yeah, the whole ten minutes it took you to catch bucket-loads of fish with your powers. Poor you."

"Hey, it was tough. I had to listen to Bobby jabber and lecture to me the entire time."

"How about you leave me alone and go annoy someone else?" Sam chuckled.

Unfortunately, Dean didn't leave and instead sat down next to Sam. But he did shut up for the most part and helped skin and cook the fish.

Everyone else slowly began to join them at the fire and soon, the whole group was gathered around and eating more than enough fish to fill their stomachs.

For the most part, there was little conversation and Sam assumed the group was too tired to communicate and just grateful to be alive. It was when the mosquitoes started coming that the kids began to whine and complain. Even the adults started swatting at them.

Sam wasn't sure why everyone seemed to be getting bitten up. He hadn't felt a single bite. He wasn't the only one who noticed, however, when Carl pointed in their direction.

"You guys over there aren't getting bitten at all! There are swarms of them over here and none in your direction."

It was then that Dean started to chuckle. Sam raised an eyebrow. Oh great, what was Dean hiding?

"I think it's because he smells so bad that they all stay away," Allen suggested with a smile.

"Hey, I'm the only one here who bathes on a daily basis I bet! You know why they stay away from me? They aren't attracted to demon blood. I'm like a mosquito shield for anyone who's around me!"

"You're making that up!" Allen complained.

"Really? Okay then." Dean turned to both Sam and Sadie who were sitting on either side of him. "Were you guys getting bit up at all?" When both of them shook their heads, Dean continued. "Okay, now go stand away from me, let me know what happens then."

Sam shared a look with Sadie and they both rolled their eyes. Leave it to Dean to have to make a point about something so stupid. Sam walked a bit away and folded his arms. As exasperated as he was, he couldn't help but worry about something.

_Hey, Dean. Am I not getting bit either because of the demon blood in me?_

Dean's laugh told him everything he needed to know. _No, you idiot. Do you know how much demon blood you have in you? Even with what you get daily from me? Like, two percent, Sammy. Stop worrying, the bugs want to eat you up just as much as any other human._

 _Haha, thanks for the reassurance, jerk._ At that moment Sam felt a mosquito bite him on his left wrist and he swatted at it. He looked back up at Dean who was grinning at him from a distance.

_See? Told you, bitch. Now get back here._

Sam went over to get Sadie, who was busy swatting at the bugs as well, and they headed back over to Dean.

"He's not lying," Sadie said. "We're going to have to fight over who gets to sit next to Dean."

"Hey, Sammy's always got a spot, so the rest of you can battle it out over the other one." Dean grinned.

Sam was happy that Dean seemed to enjoy being the center of attention. For once, people were looking at him without fear or disgust. He really seemed to be fitting in, and Sam couldn't be more thankful.

"Hate to break up this fun time." Bobby cleared his throat. "But I have to tell everyone what was written in Hades' journal."

"Oooh, finally getting to the good stuff." Dean grinned.

Before Sam could yell at his brother, Bobby spoke up. "Oh, good stuff huh? I didn't know Croats that can kill demons and Eve trying to end the world was good. Why don't you just…"

"Okay, okay!" Dean held up his good arm. "I was just trying to lighten the mood. Chill."

"This isn't a laughing matter, Dean." Bobby didn't budge. "This is serious. I found out that not only was Hades working on the latest mutation which has Croats kill demons, but he also altered them in another way."

"What is it, Bobby?" Sam asked, swallowing. He wasn't sure how it could get any worse than it already was.

"He altered the virus so that it no longer kills humans."

Everyone was silent for a moment before a voice spoke up. It was Jo.

"Okay, and that's bad...how?"

"Because…" Bobby slowly continued. "She doesn't want more Croats, she wants the humans to turn into her 'children' instead."

"The bite… turns you into a monster now?" Heather asked with a shaking voice.

"Bobby, that makes no sense." Ellen had her arms folded. "It's impossible. Whatever you read was a lie."

"If all you idjits let me finish you'd know that it doesn't turn you into a monster!" Bobby sighed, smacking his forehead. "Instead, this bite seems to do nothing to you. You don't die or turn into a Croat. Instead, you're marked. You're like a beacon that she's able to see."

"So she can come to any remaining humans and turn them." Sam gasped. "She's trying to not only kill off all demons with this mutation, but to get rid of humanity and turn them into monsters under her control."

"Exactly what I was trying to say in the first place." Bobby nodded. "There were notes in there that Hades was also trying to alter the virus so the Croats can eventually die off with time, but he wasn't able to figure anything out."

"Why the hell would he want them to die out when Eve wants to use them to change all humans?" Dean grunted.

"They wanted the Croats gone once humanity is extinct," Bobby answered. "The Croats can still attack and injure her monsters. Sad to know they never were able to figure out a way for them to slowly die. _That_ is the mutation we'd want."

"How was she even able to alter the virus this much at all?" Dean asked.

"Remember, Alastair already created one mutation on his own," Sam told his brother. "The one where they were harder to kill and couldn't die from a shot to the head. I'm sure while Eve worked with him for that small amount of time, she got some info on how to mutate the virus. Then, with Hades' help, they were able to create even more mutations."

"Eve is a powerful being, older than any demon, and Hades' was the lord of the Underworld, they were smart and knowledgeable," Bobby continued. "It probably didn't take them long to figure out what they wanted and how to create it."

"So…. we're screwed?" Sadie asked. She didn't seem to be a very positive person lately, not that Sam could blame her after what she went through.

"No." Bobby shook his head. "According to the notes, this mutation isn't able to spread to all Croats. Some are able to resist it. Hades' was never able to perfect the mutation before he died."

"That just means there were be Croats out there that can turn you _and_ Croats out there that will mark you for Eve. That's even worse!" Sadie pointed out.

Bobby crossed his arms, looking serious. "We are not going to give up. Now we know what is going on out there, and we can get prepared. We don't know how quickly this mutation will spread or how many of the Croats will take to it, but at least we know what she has planned. We can do two things next: figure out a way to kill Eve, and study Hades' notes on his failed attempts on the mutation that will cause the Croats to die over time."

"Do you think we can figure out where he was going with it and be able to do it ourselves?" Sam asked. If they could determine the correct way to mutate a Croat so it wasted away in time, that mutation could spread and essentially wipe out all the Croats.

"Possibly. What we have is better than nothing. But first, we gotta find a way to end her and stop her progress of changing everyone into monsters."

"Once she's dead, the monsters won't be under her control either, and they might not be a big problem to us anymore," Jo mentioned.

"Oh, they'll still be a problem, like they always have been," Ellen corrected her daughter. "Just not as many of them will be killing and they won't be organized in a big group."

Dean started chuckling just then. "I can just imagine a big monster civil war starting as soon as the Eve-fog fades from their minds."

"It probably will," Sam told him. "All these different species of monsters won't get along once they are in their right minds." He let out a deep sigh. "I have no idea what the world is going to be like once this is all over...if it ever will be. We've already had so many changes with all these shifts in power and chaos...it has to settle eventually and I'm afraid of what the end product will be."

"Okay, time to get you to bed." Dean was rolling his eyes. He stood up and pulled Sam up with him. "You're getting all mopey and philosophical again, means you're exhausted. Enough of that. Time to put you to bed before you embarrass yourself even more and start going on about the meaning of life."

"I'm not," Sam huffed.

"You are. Bed time. Now."

"I'm not five!"

"Still a little brother. And little brothers gotta listen to their big brothers." The group started laughing as Dean dragged Sam away. "Look, they have more tents. We can have our own small one and not have to share the big one with everyone's smelly ass."

"You already took a bath?" Sam asked.

"Hell yes. What, you didn't?" Dean wrinkled his nose, taking Sam's disheveled appearance. He pointed toward the stream. "Gross! Go take one now. I'll get our bags and put them in the tent and make some kool-aid for you."

Sam sighed, but complied to his brother's request. As the sun began to set, he quickly washed his hair and body, being careful to avoid the gunshot wound which was causing his arm to ache rather painfully. Still, after cleaning off, he felt a whole lot better.

He joined Dean back in the tent and they both changed into some more comfortable clothes to sleep in. Dean demanded to check Sam's arm and clean it before bed. Sam grudgingly obliged but he was actually glad Dean was taking care of it. He didn't need it to get infected while they were on the road. He had a tendency to ignore his own pain, but Dean wouldn't allow him to get away with that.

Dean seemed content with how Sam's wound was looking, but still rebandaged it and fretted like he always did. Finally able to get free of his brother's protective grasp, Sam attempted to get into his sleeping bag. That was when Dean threw a canister of salt at him and then snuggled into his own sleeping bag.

"Care to inform we why you're throwing salt at me?" Sam grunted. His arm was stinging from Dean cleaning his wound and he was beginning to get a headache from how tired he was. He just wanted to sleep and not play Dean's childish games.

"Since you deem that your arm is 'fine', why don't you make a salt circle on the edge of the inside of the tent?"

"But then you can't get out. What if there's an emergency?"

"Then I'll take two extra seconds and wake you up to break it. I'd rather have us safe in here so no demons or ghosts can get to us."

Sam suddenly got the shivers as he worked on the salt circle. "Do you really think some of them are out there in this area?" Who knew what was lurking out there now? There had always been monsters, ghosts and demons running about, but now there were so many more that had free reign over the world.

"No, I don't think any are camping out in the middle of a dense forest. But it's better to be safe. Relax Sammy, I'm not gonna let anything get to you."

"I'm not worried about me! I'm worried about you!" Sam finished putting down the salt and crawled into his sleeping bag, shutting off the flashlight that had been giving them light.

Dean rolled his eyes. "I'm not the one that jumps in front of murderers with guns!" At Sam's irritated huff, Dean continued. "Listen, how about we get away from all of this tonight and just relax somewhere else?"

Sam raised an eyebrow, although he doubted Dean could see. "Just leave the forest and go somewhere else? What the…"

"No, stupid! Well...kind of, just not for real. I was thinking...well...we could try that dream thingy again and just...you know…"

Sam smiled, his irritation for Dean vanishing and being replaced with love for his brother. "That sounds awesome, man. You think we could do it?"

Dean shrugged. "Probably. I mean, last time I focused on joining in on your dreams, it worked. We just gotta keep our minds open or whatever and it should work fine. As soon as you start dreaming, I jump into it."

"What if I don't dream?"

"Then I guess it won't work. But we can try."

"Alright, let's do this."

It didn't take Sam long to fall asleep in his exhausted state. One minute he was listening to the sounds of the breeze blowing through the trees and the flowing water of the stream...the next he was waking up with the sun shining outside of the now-familiar cabin from his childhood.

"Hey, dork." Dean, in his soul form, was standing above Sam from where he lay in the field and offered him a hand up.

Sam accepted the help and then ducked away when Dean tried to give him a noogie. "Stop acting like you're five."

"But I always act like I'm five."

Sam laughed. "True. You got here fast, I don't even remember entering my own dream before I came here."

"Probably caught you right as you started dreaming. So, where to?"

Sam shrugged. "We could go swim in the river...or take a hike?"

"Not here! Somewhere else." Dean was rolling his eyes like Sam was the most clueless person in the world.

"Somewhere...what?"

"This is a dream! We can do whatever we want! I bet we can conjure up any place we want to go to. Oh! I've got it!" Dean snapped his broken fingers on his remaining hand. "A strip club!"

"Uh, hell no! This is my dream too, and I bet if I reject it, we can't go."

Dean huffed. "Fine, then where to? The library? 'Cause I'm sure as hell gonna reject that."

"Yes Dean, I want to go to a library," Sam shot back sarcastically. In truth, he would actually love the chance to explore a library of his making and get to read all his favorite books again. But dealing with an ever-complaining older brother killed that idea. "How about the beach? We haven't been in forever...since you took me that one time not long after Jess to cheer me up."

When Sam watched Dean perk up, he realized he had thought of the perfect idea for them both. He quickly tried to shrug it off, however. "Sure, I guess that's fine. Only if I get to add a bunch of hot chicks."

"Deal."

They didn't even have to figure out how this would work, as the scene shifted around them in an instant. Suddenly, Sam was wearing swim shorts and he could feel sand beneath his toes and hear waves crashing against the shore.

In front of him lay a beautiful sunny day at a white-sand beach. Kids ran around playing, and men and women strolled the shore, laughing and drinking. Sam noticed how the crowd was the perfect amount and the people they imagined up weren't too loud. This was amazing! What they could do in a dream truly shocked Sam and left him speechless. They for sure had to do this a lot more often.

Sam turned to face his brother, only to find him wrapped up in a long towel. "Dude...what are you doing?"

Through the burns and the scars on his face, Dean blushed, refusing to remove the towel and Sam understood immediately. "Dean...come on. I thought we were over this."

"You've never seen it all. I always had a shirt on."

"If you're so worried, then conjure up a shirt."

"I tried, it won't let me. It's like it knows we are at the beach and I shouldn't be wearing one. I guess we can't do _everything_...or we gotta learn how to."

Sam frowned at his brother's self-consciousness. "Come on man, these people...they only see us if we want them to, and they won't see you as you are, they'll only see you how you want them to see you. They aren't real. But I am, and I don't give a crap."

"But it's bad, Sammy."

"And again, I know. And I don't care. It doesn't hurt you here, right?"

"No."

"Then _I don't care_. The only thing I'm worried about is if you're in pain, and you aren't so..." He shrugged. "The injuries don't bother me."

"Fine." Dean raised his voice and threw the towel on the sand, raising his head in a stance that Sam was all too familiar with - Dean did this when he was scared and didn't want to let it show.

Dean was right that it was bad. Sam could clearly see the hole just below Dean's right shoulder, where a giant hook must have pierced him, and the same on the left side of his stomach. There were gouges along the front of his chest and on his back that reminded Sam way too clearly of the marks the hellhounds left.

So yeah, it did bother Sam. But not in the way Dean assumed it would.

Still, Dean's amulet shone bright, and the area around his neck where it lay remained undamaged.

Sam reached out and put a hand on Dean's shoulder, right above where one of the holes was. "Hey, relax. We're at the beach! We came here to have fun, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah sure." Dean sat down on the towel that he formerly had wrapped around himself. His posture remained stiff and anxious.

Sam huffed. His brother was going to continue to be uncomfortable unless something was done to make him feel better about the worst of the injuries to his soul. Sam focused, visualizing what he wanted to appear, and was pleased when it materialized in front of him.

"Here, let me help." Sam sat down in front of his brother, first aid kit in hand. At Dean's speculative glance at the object, Sam shrugged. "Dream, remember? I can make whatever I want appear."

He proceeded to take the next few minutes gently apply gauze over the holes in Dean's chest and stomach. He wrapped up the worst of the burns on his arms and then closed the kit. It wouldn't help the wounds at all, of course, but maybe if they were covered, Dean would feel a bit more confident.

Sam hadn't failed to notice how Dean had watched his hands carefully, as if he were waiting for his brother to shy away from touching his wounds. This had been a moment of trust and acceptance, and Sam hoped Dean held onto it.

Dean was now running a hand over one of the gauze pads, looking at it as if he didn't know what to say.

"Hey-" Sam pointed to Dean's left shoulder. "Didn't this shoulder...I remember your shirt being torn and there was bone peeking out. There's only a bruise there now."

Dean shrugged, although he wasn't able to hide his surprise for a moment. "So? I guess there is."

Sam spared telling Dean how amazing it was that another part of his soul healed, that despite all the injuries, he had gotten better. Sam knew that from his statement, his brother understood all of this already. He hoped it brought a sense of peace to Dean, that he wouldn't worry so much about how Sam saw the state of his soul.

Because what Sam saw, was a man terribly broken...yet able to push back against all of the abuse and struggles he went through. He saw someone being able to heal despite the odds, someone who was still holding onto hope and had a firm grasp on the little bit of humanity that he still held inside of him.

Sam watched Dean lean back on the towel and close his eyes. A ghost of a smile passed over his lips.

_Thanks, Sammy._

Apparently, telepathy still worked here somehow. He was about to reply back when Dean continued.

_Thanks for reminding me we can make things. I'm gonna make something right now…_

In an instant, two very attractive women in skimpy bikinis stood in front of them, holding cocktails on a silver platter.

What an ass.

They accepted the drinks and Sam grinned when the flavor ended up being exactly what he liked. He had never had a more perfect cocktail and from the look on Dean's face, neither had he.

Sam leaned back on the beach lounge chair that had materialized, and reached over to grab the book he had made appear, when he caught Dean reaching over to untie one of the women's bikini tops…

"Dean!" Sam reached over and smacked his brother's hand. "Have some respect!"

"They aren't real! Come on, let me have my perfect dream!"

"It's my dream too, and that's _not_ what I want to see."

"You're such a prude." Dean shook his head, but allowed the woman to walk away.

"I just respect women."

"Hey, I do too! You know how I don't force myself on anyone. They just can't help but fall for me."

Sam rolled his eyes, although he knew Dean was telling the truth. "Shut up and eat." He waved his hand and allowed a hamburger and fries to appear in front of his brother.

Dean's face broke out in a huge grin. "Oh my god, it's been a year since I've had one of these babies!"

"And you know what? I'm going to have one too." Sam smiled, making another appear. "Doesn't matter how unhealthy it is if it's not real."

"You're a fricken nerd." Dean snapped his fingers and materialized an MP3 player. Putting the headphones in, he started nodding his head to the music while eating his burger.

Sam smiled and flipped open his book. However, as he began to read, he realized the words made no sense and seemed jumbled. He sighed, realizing that in dreams he was never able to read anything. It looked like the same 'rule' applied even when he was fully aware in their dream world.

It was no big deal anyway, as Sam found himself enjoying just closing his eyes and bathing in the sun while listening to the sounds of the waves crashing on the beach and the call of seagulls.

He was able to relax for maybe a bit over a half an hour before he was splashed with water, startling him.

Dean was standing over him with a water balloon in hand, grinning wickedly. "Come on, time to go in the water before we wake up."

"These dreams happen in real time, we have hours and hours until we wake up."

"I don't care, let's go."

"You just wanna go because there are girls in bikinis in the water!"

"Sammy, I'm hurt. Can't I just want to hang out with my little brother?" Dean smirked.

"Ha, ha. Fine, let's go."

They waded into the water, and Sam was pleased to see that the sand and salt water didn't seem to have any effect on Dean's wounds. It made sense, since the wounds weren't physical, but it pleased him nonetheless.

"Hey," he found himself saying, trying to dodge Dean's attack that would surely end with him flailing under the water. "Can you even swim in the actual ocean? I mean...salt water and all? Wouldn't it burn you?"

Dean shrugged. "Don't know. I mean, I could eat french fries and other salty food just fine. Stung a tiny bit, but it wasn't enough to have any real effect. Don't have to worry anyway, we're gonna be right near a bunch of fresh water mountain lakes."

"Yeah, that will be freezing! Even in the summer!"

"Won't bother me all that much. Demons adjust to temperatures much quicker."

"Oh really? Is that why last winter you were whining like a…"

Sam didn't get to say anything else, as Dean used his powers to dunk him under the water. He kept him under for much too long, but Sam realized quickly that he could breathe under the water. No fear of drowning here.

"Come on!" Dean said when he released Sam. "You've got powers too, even here! Use them to get back at me!"

"You never should have said that." Sam grinned, trying them himself and sending Dean flying through the air and splashing into the ocean some feet away.

They were busy having fun, so lost in the moment that both of them fell backwards in shock when someone emerged from the water, standing right between them.

It was Castiel.

"You must wake up." Castiel said, not apologizing for startling them both. "I have heard someone in the woods around our camp."

* * *

Dean woke up with a gasp, his brother doing the same moments later.

Before they could do anything else, their tent was being unzipped. Both brothers grabbed for their weapons, only to relax when it was Castiel standing there.

"You must hurry. I lost sight of the people, but I will be able to track where they went for a short amount of time."

"I'll tell Bobby," Sam got up and broke the salt line. "He'll need to keep watch over camp while we go out."

Dean stepped out into the night and kept an eye on his brother until he reached Bobby's tent. "Are they human?" Dean asked Castiel after a moment.

"Yes, I am positive."

"Well, that will be easy. Just sneak up behind and off them."

"I don't think Sam would enjoy that. If they are not troublesome, I believe we should let them go."

"And what are the chances of that? Probably a bunch of scumbags like everyone else we met."

"I have gotten no indication that they might be trouble. It seemed they were coming back from a supply trip."

"Fine. We'll find them and watch them and decide what kind of people they are."

"Perhaps if they have an outpost, which it seems that they do, we can bargain for goods," Castiel suggested thoughtfully.

Dean was shocked that Castiel actually had a decent idea. "If we'd be that lucky, I'm all for that. We need some shit."

"Why would we need…"

"Hey-" Sam appeared just then, saving Dean from having to answer Castiel's clueless question. "Bobby and Carl are going to look after the group. We're good to go."

The brothers followed Castiel into the woods, being as quiet as possible. Dean didn't see anyone...not that he could see much at all. It was cloudy and there was no moonlight to guide their way. He was trusting Castiel to lead him and Sam in the right direction. Apparently, angels had night-vision.

Dean kept at Sam's side the entire time, his pistol at the ready. Despite having demon powers, he still tended to react quicker with actual weapons, especially when surprised.

After about fifteen minutes of walking, something darted out of the trees on the left, and Dean raised his gun. He nearly fired if it weren't for Sam, who used his own powers to force Dean's arm down.

A deer sprinted past them, hopping off into the darkness. Dean huffed in irritation.

 _That's the last thing we need, you shooting that poor deer and alerting the people we are tracking,_ Sam scolded him.

_Hey, just trying to protect you. And it would have made a nice meal._

They weren't able to bicker any further, as Castiel came to a stop and held up a hand.

"I sense a lot of people...this way." He turned to his left and they started to travel uphill. Five minutes later, they came to an edge of a cliff.

Their view was that of a resort area. It contained a lodge, cabins and…

And people.

"Stop right there! Drop your weapons!"

Dean stiffened at the sound of a woman's voice behind them. He immediately went to reach out to grab Sam's arm.

"Don't touch him!" the woman yelled. Dean could also hear a few other people with her. "If you drop your weapons right now and slowly turn around, nothing is going to happen to him or any of you."

_I'm gonna teleport behind them and stab her. Get ready to drop to the ground if their weapons go off._

_You are not going to do any such thing Dean!_ Sam yelled at him. _She just wants us to drop our weapons so we don't hurt them and then we can talk._

_Yeah, drop our weapons so she can shoot us while we are defenseless and then take our stuff!_

_If she wanted to do that, she would have already with our backs turned._

"Weapons! Drop them now! You, spikey-hair, you're the only one left to do it. Don't make me put a bullet in the back of your head."

_Dean, please._

With a string of mental-curses directed Sam's way, Dean dropped his gun and machete that he had in his holster.

"Steve, get over there and check them for any other weapons," Dean heard the woman say. "And none of you try anything funny! We'll shoot you on the spot."

"What a friendly greeting we have going on here!" Dean called out. "Nice to meet you, too!"

"Dean, shut up!"

"Wait...wait a minute. Steve, get back here. All of you turn around now."

Dean noticed the change in the woman's tone, she suddenly sounded a lot less hostile. He turned his eyes human and looked over to his brother, silently giving him the okay to turn around.

They were met with two men wielding shotguns and an African-American woman with a rifle. She looked awfully familiar...but Dean couldn't put his finger on why.

"Oh my gosh…" It was Sam that spoke up. "Tamara?"

Tamara...who the hell was...oh yeah, the woman who had helped them fight off the seven deadly sins when the gates of Hell had opened. Her husband had croaked and Ruby had to save their sorry asses.

"Sam? Dean?" She cocked an eyebrow, lowering her rifle. "How the hell did you find my town?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! I took a little break from writing as things were really busy for me, but now I'm back! I have an extra long chapter for everyone and have also started chapter 14. I hope everyone enjoys.
> 
> Thanks to my friend Katie for helping me out on this chapter and my beta Gabi for taking the time to look it over!
> 
> We left off with Sam and Dean running into Tamara, who is the leader of a community that the brothers discovered.

 

"That…" Sam pointed toward the lodge. "That's yours?"

Tamara shrugged. "I'm one of the leaders. Helped get it functioning and recruited survivors. Where's your place?" Her British accent seemed out of place. After a year of no television or radio, it felt odd to hear another accent other than the American dialects.

"We don't have one," Dean grunted.

"Did you hear of our place and decide you wanted to come and stay?" she asked, still seeming a bit worried about their intentions.

"No." Sam shook his head. "We were heading out to find a place of our own. We took a break and decided to camp out in the forest for a few days. Our friend…" Sam motioned to Castiel. "He heard some people in the woods and we tried to track them down."

"But it looks like you tracked us first." Dean folded his good arm over his bad one, clearly not pleased that someone had gotten the jump on him.

"Hey, the only one that can track a hunter without them knowing is another hunter." She smiled for the first time since they ran into her. "Have to say, I'm shocked that you're both alive. Not that I don't think you aren't strong enough but…" She raised an eyebrow at Dean. "Weren't you supposed to be going to Hell for some crossroads deal?"

"I did. It didn't agree with me." Dean kept his expression stoney and his voice emotionless.

"You managed to get out? Of Hell? How…"

"Like you said-" Dean cut her off. "Hunters. We find a way."

"Alright. I can see that's a sore subject and I understand why." Tamara brushed off Dean's bluntness. "You three on your own, or do you have more at your camp?"

"We have a whole bunch actually," Sam told her. He was happy that he finally could trust someone else with information. "Do you remember Bobby Singer?"

Tamara laughed. "I just knew that old coot would find a way to stay alive."

"Don't let him hear you say that," Dean mumbled.

Sam laughed at his brother's comment. "Yeah, you better not. And did you know Ellen and Jo? They're with us too, along with a bunch of other people."

"Yeah, every hunter knew them. They owned that roadhouse. Good to see there's some decent hunters left out there." She paused for a few moments, considering something. "How about you lead me to your group and if everything seems alright, I can take you all to the lodge? We have a lot of rooms left available, and you could all stay for a bit and get some rest. It beats sleeping on the ground."

 _Oh yeah, let's just let a demon into a camp that's led by a hunter! That sounds like an amazing plan!_ Dean's voice entered Sam's mind. _I don't like it, Sammy. If they find out about me, they might kill you._

_They might not find out at all. And if they do, we have our whole group that will defend you. Let's just see what happens. They aren't going to kill me._

"Sounds good," Sam answered before Dean could complain.

* * *

They walked back to the camp mostly in silence. Sam could tell that Tamara still seemed nervous about whether or not they were telling the truth. It was difficult to trust in this new world, even people you thought you knew.

But once they reached the clearing, Tamara smiled upon seeing Bobby standing guard.

"Tamara!" Bobby ran up to her and squeezed her in a hug. "What in the hell are you doing out here?"

"Your boys and their friend stumbled upon my settlement. I was what they were tracking. No worries, we keep this area Croat and monster-free."

Ellen and Jo approached, exchanging greetings. The majority of the rest of their group woke up as well, curious to who this newcomer was. Word spread that Tamara was a friend of the brothers and Bobby, and everyone seemed to relax. After a few minutes, Tamara turned to the two men who had been with her.

"Go back to camp, tell the others I'm going to bring some friends and to prepare rooms for them all."

As the men left, Dean stepped forward. Sam wasn't sure what his brother had planned, but he hoped whatever he said wouldn't get Tamara suspicious as to what he really was.

"You're inviting us into your place? After you blamed and bashed us for opening the devil's gate? I say this is a trap."

Sam looked over at Bobby, who looked just as outraged as Sam felt. Before either of them could scold Dean, Tamara spoke up.

"That was Isac that blamed you. Not me. It wasn't you who opened it, and I know you would have stopped it if there was a chance." She then sighed, rolling her eyes. "There is no trap, that is just ridiculous."

"Fine. Then show us the entry to this place of yours."

"I will," Tamara said, putting her bag down and digging through it. "But first, I have to make sure I'm not letting anything inhuman into my camp."

While Tamara pulled out various objects, all eyes turned on Dean. There was no way to avoid Dean being discovered and Sam was proud to recognize that there was a silent agreement that everyone would defend the elder Winchester.

What Sam wasn't expecting, was for Dean to clear his throat and speak up without warning.

"I'm a demon."

Tamara glanced up from her bag, raising one eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I. Am. A. Demon."

"Is this another form of your odd humor? Because I have to say…" Tamara suddenly gasped as Dean's eyes went black.

In a flash, she grabbed a gun from her bag, aiming it at Dean's head.

"Don't you think of moving! I have rock salt loaded up in this gun."

"Hey, I ain't moving." Dean held up his good hand, showing that he held no weapon.

Finally coming out of his shock, Sam opened up his mind to talk to his brother. He had to find out what in the world he was thinking. _Dean! What the hell are you doing?_

_This is the best way. Trust me. I got this._

Tamara didn't lower her gun. "Why are you possessing Dean Winchester?" She then motioned to the rest of the group. "And why are none of you doing anything about this? Are you all demons too?"

"No one's a demon but me, sweetheart."

"Don't you call me that!" she yelled, taking a step forward.

"Okay, okay! Geez. I call every woman sweetheart." Dean flashed a cocky smile. "You know, because I'm _Dean_ and that's what I do."

"I don't care who you say you are, you're a demon and I'm going to send you back to Hell."

"Good luck with that. I'm all warded up."

Whatever plan Dean had been thinking of, it was obviously not working. Sam stepped next to Dean, unable to take the threats toward his brother any longer.

"Tamara, hear us out. This _is_ Dean. He did go to Hell, and he came back like this - as a demon."

"Even if this is your brother, which I highly doubt, it doesn't matter. It's a demon! Do you remember what these monsters did to my husband? They…"

"Don't call me that." Dean growled suddenly.

_Dean, don't instigate her!_

"What was that?" Tamara asked, her gun still pointed at Dean's forehead.

"Don't call me an 'it'." Dean's fists were clenched and Sam was surprised on how angry that comment caused Dean to become.

Tamara raised an eyebrow but her grip on her gun didn't waver. "Give me one good reason why all of you were travelling with this thing."

"I am _not_ a thing!" Dean raised his voice. Sam was certain Tamara was about to shoot when Aiden ran up to Dean, clutching his legs in a hug.

"Please don't shoot Dean! He's my friend!" The young boy had tears in his eyes.

"Aiden, get back! Go with Sam, and you two step away." Dean glared down at him and tried to pry the kid off of his legs.

"No! You always save and protect us and now it's my turn! You can't stop me!"

"He's right." Sadie was the first to step up from the shell-shocked group of survivors who had kept quiet until this time. "Dean is the reason we're still alive. He helped us escape from a Croat attack at our former camp. He warned us all so we were able to get out in time. He could have just taken Sam and ran, but he didn't."

Heather, Carl and even Allen joined Sadie and Sam at Dean's side. Other people in their group joined them as well, all staring at Tamara, joined together in their quest to prove that Dean was a good man.

Several other kids, including Emily, ran up to hug Dean as well. Sam watched his brother roll his eyes, but he still made no move to disarm or injure Tamara.

When Sam spared a look at the woman, he saw that the anger in her eyes had changed to that of confusion. She was watching the kids and then looked up at the group who was supporting the demon, including Bobby, who had walked up to stand on Dean's other side.

"He's a demon," Sam spoke up. "But he's still my brother. He's nothing like the rest of them. You don't have to let him in your town, but then we aren't going in either. Just say the word and we'll leave."

"I have access to see Dean's soul." It was Castiel who spoke next. "It is nowhere near as damaged as any other demon I have ever encountered. He resembles more of a broken human than that of a monster."

Tamara finally lowered her weapon and focused her attention on Castiel. "Seeing his soul?" she asked, perplexed. "Who the bloody hell are you? Or should I say 'what'?"

Pleased that the attention seemed to be off of Dean for at least a moment, Sam grabbed his brother's shoulder and started dragging him away from the kids.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" Sam asked Dean.

"I'm telling her the truth! That way she'll trust me and see I'm not gonna go feral on her town or whatever the hell she thinks I'm going to do."

"She's a _hunter,_ Dean! You're lucky she didn't put an iron bullet in your head!"

"Well, she didn't, did she?" Dean pointed out. "So my plan must be working."

"No, it's not working. Her husband was killed by demons who killed anyone they saw when they were bored. She hates them. She isn't going to realize that there can be such a thing as a demon who got out of Hell early and is more human than monster!"

"I bet you a box of stale crackers that she'll see I'm different." Dean smiled.

Sam felt like smacking himself on the forehead. "You're impossible! I'm not betting you anything in…"

"What in the world are you?" Tamara's voice called out.

Sam broke his concentration away from his irritating older brother to see that Tamara apparently had finished interrogating Castiel and was now addressing a similar question to Dean.

"Did a Croat whack you on the head too hard and now you have short-term memory loss?" Dean snickered to himself. "I'm a damn demon."

Tamara shook her head. "You're no demon. Demons don't act like this. I've hunted over a hundred and...you are joking around and making a bet when you could have killed me and raided my town. I'll ask you again...what are you?"

"You don't want to call me a demon? Fine. I'm Dean."

"Never saw a demon that went by a human name, let alone one that remembered who he was before."

"Yeah, well you'll never meet another either."

Sam watched as they stared each other down and he understood that this was going to be the moment where Tamara decided if it would be safe to let the group into her home with Dean.

"Dean's grouchy but he's not mean," Aiden spoke up, causing both brothers to sigh. "Everyone likes him here and you will too, I just know it."

Now it was Tamara's turn to sigh. "Fine, I'll consider letting… _Dean_ … in… under one condition."

The brothers stayed silent, waiting for her to continue. She knelt down and searched for something in her bag, coming out with a bottle of clear liquid.

Sam stood in front of his brother, eyeing the bottle fearfully. "You are _not_ poisoning him with holy water. I'm not going to watch him suffer again. If you require that, we're leaving, now."

He saw Bobby flinch and then the older man stepped forward as well. "Please don't do this to him. It's just going to cause him pain and make him stand out more to the people in your town."

Tamara shook her head. "I'm not poisoning him… not in the way you assume, anyway. This isn't holy water, it's not going to hurt him at all."

"Then what the hell is it?" Dean pushed Sam aside and squinted at the jar, pointing his flashlight at it.

"It's a potion I discovered. It weakens demons in a way that diminishes their powers and lowers their defenses. I've been able to get a lot of truth out of demons after I give them this. You'll be more vulnerable, but if you aren't a threat like you claim, then you shouldn't have to worry."

Sam shook his head. "I don't know about this.."

"So it's basically like getting drunk?" Dean quipped, his tone applied interest.

"Dean!" Sam gasped. "You've got to be kidding me! That's what you're concerned about?"

The older brother shrugged. "I haven't been able to get drunk for over eighty years! You know how much I miss it?"

"We don't even know if this potion is safe! We don't know if she's lying about what it does!"

Castiel held out his hand toward Tamara. "May I take a look at this potion?"

The woman seemed unsure, but gave Castiel the bottle anyway. Whatever Bobby and the others had told her about Castiel while the brothers were arguing must have convinced her that he wasn't a danger as well.

Castiel took the lid off and dipped a finger in the liquid. After a few seconds, he nodded. "It is exactly what she describes."

"How do you…," Dean started to say before shaking his head. "Nevermind, I'm not even gonna ask. Just give it to me."

Sam didn't even have time to react as his brother quickly snatched the jar and swallowed the contents in one gulp.

Sam grabbed his brother's shoulder and eyed him carefully. "You feel okay?" He couldn't help but worry, despite what Castiel had told him. Their luck lately had seemed to be getting worse and worse, and he was conditioned into thinking that Tamara might be setting a trap for Dean.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! Get off me." Dean went to push Sam away, but ended up grabbing onto his brother as he swayed slightly. "Woah… cool…"

More people from their group inched closer, probably eager to see Dean make an idiot out of himself.

"This is… like… I'm floating! I just… I don't care about anything!"

"When have you ever cared about anything?" Sam rolled his eyes.

"Nooo… I mean, I'm not even mad! Like...I want to be pissed at you for hovering over me right now but I can't! I feel… this is awesssomme…" Dean dragged the last word out, looking around at his surroundings with wide black eyes and a smile on his face.

"Well, that's not a reaction that I was expecting," Sam said. It was actually pretty nice to see his brother apparently feeling carefree and blissfully happy. He could already understand what Tamara meant about this potion making demons become more open and willing to answer questions. There was no way Dean would admit what he had just stated without the potion.

"Me neither," Tamara chimed in, sounding intrigued. "I've never seen a demon react in this manner. You are actually _enjoying_ this?" she questioned Dean directly.

"Hell yeah! Why the hell wouldn't I?" He grabbed Sam's arm suddenly. "Come on, Sammy, let's go out on a hike. Not for supplies or any of that shit, but an honest hike. I know how much you love your nature. It's pretty out here. Come on, let's go hang out."

Sam wasn't sure if he should laugh or be worried. "Yeah… I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not? We never hang out anymore, Sammy. Come'on we gotta have some fun!"

Okay, laughing was definitely the way to go. "Later, Dean. Let's actually get to our new home first, then I promise you we'll go out and explore."

"Fine. You better promise."

"I will."

"Looks like you're going to have to deal with him being like that for at least a few days," Tamara informed Sam. "The idiot was only supposed to take a sip, but he drank the whole thing before I was able to say so."

"Psh, give me one of these every day! This is…"

"Awesome, we know." Sam sighed. "Is it going to hurt him?"

"No, just makes him even less effective as a demon. Now I don't have to worry about him hurting any of my people, but rather him drawing too much attention to himself for behaving like a bloody moron." She shook her head, still staring at Dean like he was the greatest mystery in the world. "Might as well lead you all into camp now while most of the others are sleeping. I'll test the rest of you and if all of you check out, I'll direct you where to go."

Tamara took the time to test each of them with various items that were weaknesses to supernatural creatures. Once she was satisfied the rest of them were human, she got into the Impala so she could keep an eye on Dean. By the time they arrived at the gates to her safe haven, she seemed to regret that decision. Dean didn't shut up the entire drive and Tamara looked like she wanted to claw her hair out.

"Thank God," she said when the Impala was put into park. She jumped out and waved to the people who stood guard in watch towers over the gates, their rifles pointed at the group of cars.

"It's fine," she called out. "I actually ran into a few friends of mine and their group. I'm going to let them stay a few nights so they can rest and exchange information."

Tamara was obviously a well-respected and trusted leader, as the guards called for someone to open the gates without any questions.

While Tamara talked to the guards by the opening gate, Sam turned to Dean, suddenly realizing something.

"Dean, you better still be able to change your eyes human."

Dean, who had been humming something quietly, turned to look at Sam with still-black eyes. "She said it weakens my powers, Sammy. This isn't a power. It's a… umm…"

"Who cares what it is!" Sadie said from the backseat. "Hurry and change them back now!"

"Okay! I'm focusing! Let me think!"

"Well you better think harder!" Sadie hissed. "I don't want them capturing and torturing you because you were too drunk to focus!"

Dean huffed a few more times, muttering something unintelligible and then looked up at his brother, his eyes now green. "See, I did it. It's 'cause I'm…"

"Awesome, yes." Sam sighed. "Now keep your cool around these people and just stay quiet. Be as normal as you can. Please, Dean."

"Aww Sammy, you're…" Dean wasn't able to finish as Tamara tapped on their window.

"It's all good," she told them. "Pull on in and park over to your right in the field."

"I bet they have beds. Actual beds, Sammy. And showers. And edible food."

"And if you don't shut up, we might not get to use any of that at all," Sam whispered to his brother while they exited the Impala.

As their group gathered together, about a dozen of Tamara's followers approached, eyeing them curiously.

"These are a few hunter friends of mine and their group," Tamara said to them. "They're going to stay here for a few days and I'm going to bring them up to the rooms in the lodge. You will see them around tomorrow, please make them feel welcome."

Sam didn't bother looking around, too intent on keeping an eye on Dean in case he made a fool of himself. But to Dean's credit, he stayed mostly silent while Tamara led them into the lodge. It was probably the promise of a comfortable bed that kept him quiet.

They entered the lodge which looked as clean as it would have been pre-croatpocalypse. Tamara led them up to the second floor and told everyone to pick a room. There were twelve rooms in this area, some with two queens and others with a king. But with the sleeper sofas that Tamara informed them about, they should be able to find room for everyone to sleep.

Dean started walking down the hall when Tamara held a hand out to stop him. Dean raised his eyebrows at her in response.

"What? You gonna chain me up in a basement somewhere?"

"No, but I'm going to make sure you're locked up in a room overnight. Get in this one." She pointed to the first one on the right.

"Can Sammy come too?"

Sam noticed that this time, Tamara wasn't able to resist rolling her eyes. "I don't care who decides to stay in there with you, as long as you stay put and they don't let you out."

"Oh trust me, I'm not leaving that bed."

"Okay, sure. Before you decide to...sleep? I want to-"

"Oh I sleep, sweetheart. I'm not like those other demons. I sleep _a lot_."

"If you call me that one more time, I _will_ kick you out for sure. I want to ask you some questions now that you're dosed up on that potion."

Dean shook his head and walked away, toward the beds. "Nope. Not doing that. Too tired. You can wait till tomorrow."

Tamara stared at where Dean fell face-first on the bed closest to the door. The poor woman couldn't have looked more confused.

"Can it wait?" Sam asked, bringing out his puppy eyes. "He's not cooperative at all when he's tired, and you said the potion should still be working throughout the day tomorrow."

She nodded slowly in response. "Okay, yeah. You're probably exhausted too. But I'm not going to let him roam free in my town before he answers my questions and I can be sure he isn't a threat."

"That's fine," Sam answered her. "He'll answer them tomorrow. Er… Later today, I guess."

Tamara nodded curtly and then proceeded to put down a thick line of salt before closing the door. When Sam peeked through the eye-hole in the door, he saw that Tamara had grabbed a chair and was sitting out on guard right outside their door. He didn't blame her, she was a hunter after all and wasn't going to leave a demon in her camp unsupervised.

He decided to keep this information from Dean in case he might get upset. However, when he turned to face his brother, it didn't seem like Dean had a single care in the world.

The older Winchester was humming something again that Sam guessed from his countless hours in the car with his brother, was Metallica. "Finally she's gone! Now to check out that shower…"

While Dean went to take what would probably turn out to be an hour long shower, Sam studied the room. It was filled with rustic decor, but wasn't over-the top. The beige bedsheets looked comfortable and he couldn't wait to sleep in a bed that was clean. A fireplace sat near the bed furthest from the door with a small pile of wood next to it. Sam grinned, it may be summer but he couldn't help but light the fireplace and add to the relaxing atmosphere. The night was cool as the elevation was higher, so he opened some windows before collapsing in the wooden chair in the corner of the room.

He hadn't realized that he started to drift off until Dean practically bounced out of the bathroom.

"Dude, that water pressure is awesome. How do they even have running water here?"

Sam rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He hadn't been lying when he told himself he was happy to see Dean like this, but now, he wasn't looking forward to a talkative and hyper older brother as he tried to go to sleep. "It's gotta run on well water, Dean. There's probably a lake nearby that they get their water source from."

"Oh, okay yeah." Dean then glanced around the room, squinting as if he just realized how bright it was. "There's working lights. How…"

"A generator." Sam rolled his eyes. Apparently this potion didn't just make Dean open and prone to saying whatever was on his mind, but it left him confused about things that should be common sense. "Or solar panels." Any other time he'd be using this opportunity to mess with Dean, but he was simply too exhausted.

"Ohhh, cool. Yeah, let's get some of those for our place."

Sam huffed out a laugh. "Assuming our place isn't occupied, and if it's even still standing." It was then when he realized Dean didn't have his sling on. "Dude, put your sling back on, we don't need it taking even longer to heal."

"Oh yeah, that thing. But my arm actually doesn't hurt right now!"

"Yeah, but you'll damage it and feel the pain as soon as you're back to being yourself." Sam went into the bathroom to retrieve it. "Come on, let me help you put it on."

Dean definitely wasn't himself as he complied and let Sam help him position the sling. Normally, Dean couldn't do it himself anyway without sending intense pain up his broken arm, but he usually complained, cursed and insulted Sam during the whole procedure.

"Thanks, Sammy," Dean said as soon as his arm was safely inside the sling. The gratitude shocked Sam even more. "Now go shower, you stink."

Shaking his head, Sam held back his comment that he had just bathed in the river hours earlier and followed his brother's request. He had to say, he was glad. The shower pressure _was_ amazing, and it felt great to feel warm water on his skin.

When he left the bathroom, he panicked for a moment as he didn't see his brother anywhere. After a few frantic heartbeats, he noticed that the sliding door to the balcony was opened.

He walked out to see Dean halfway hanging over the railing.

"Dean! What the hell!" Sam grabbed his brother's shirt and yanked him backwards.

"What?" Dean looked genuinely confused. "I was just watching the deer I saw down there."

"Yeah and you were about to fall!" Sam didn't even have to ask and knew that his brother had probably been trying to use his powers to mess with the poor animal.

"So? I can't get hurt!"

"Yeah but someone might see you fall and wonder how you didn't break a leg. Now come on, get inside."

"But wait… Sammy, look." Dean pointed out and the landscape before them.

At first, Sam assumed it was just Dean's 'drunk' mind making him seem amazed at absolutely nothing. Then he saw the lake.

The hotel was situated right next to the body of water. The moonlight reflected off the still surface, creating a very serene and relaxing atmosphere. Surrounded by pine trees and rolling hills, it was simply beautiful.

"Wow…" Sam trailed off, at a loss of what to say.

"Isn't it awesome? I bet our place looks even better. There're lakes and streams and actual mountains and we're gonna be even more secluded…"

As Dean rambled on, Sam realized that his brother had most likely studied the maps of the ranch and the surrounding area more than he'd let on. Dean was excited about their possible new home. Now more than ever, Sam hoped that the location was free of both Croats and people, and that they were able to make it their own.

They had both always appreciated nature, Sam being more vocal about it than Dean. The younger brother hoped they would be able to explore their area safely and take hikes, maybe even find a boat to take out onto one of the lakes…

While it was important not to think thoughts that were too depressing, it was also just as important to not get too hopeful. They would deal with the ranch situation once the time came.

Sam zoned back in and noticed that Dean had changed his rambling into another topic.

"We never got to finish hanging out in Dreamworld. We never get to hang out anymore. Come on Sammy…"

"I highly doubt you'll be able to enter Dreamworld in your state." Sam started to roll his eyes, but stopped when Dean's face fell. Hanging out must be something Dean really wanted to do but never expressed, if he was bringing it up yet again. "But hey, listen. Let's go back inside and get into our beds. We can stay up and talk like we used to before things got crazy. How does that sound?"

He put a hand on his brother's shoulder, figuring that Dean in this state may not have the energy to care if Sam was being too 'chick-flicky'.

Dean just grinned, in a way that looked kind of crazy, and let Sam lead him back inside. He practically fell into his bed while Sam climbed into his own under the covers.

As Sam listened to the crackle of the fire, the sounds from the opened window, and his brother's even breathing, he suddenly got a deep pang of nostalgia. For the first time, he wasn't reminiscing over the way people used to live in society. He didn't think back to the fact that a hotel like this used to be filled with people spending vacations and enjoying their time off.

No, he missed how he and Dean used to stay in places like this. He missed how they used to have to disguise their identity. It was nerve-wracking, but also fun to pretend to be a cop, park ranger, or whatever their job called for. He longed for the open road and wondering where the next case would take them and being able to save yet another innocent civilian. The thrill of researching the next monster and figuring out what it was and how to kill it was something that he found himself thinking about.

In all, he missed hunting. He never thought he would say it, but it was in his blood. He didn't feel the same without it. More specifically, he missed hunting _with his brother_.

"I'm basically drunk and I can still tell you're emo-angsting about something," Dean suddenly said, rolling over to face Sam. He was smirking. "Tell me. For some reason I actually want to talk about your feelings right now. Don't pass that up."

"Fine. Then prepare yourself for the most emo-angsting you've ever heard in your entire life."

"Bring it on, Sasquatch."

"Alright." Sam told himself he would just plow right ahead and explain exactly what he was feeling. But now that he actually had the opportunity to talk to his brother when he would listen, Sam found it difficult to even begin.

"Thinking about all the dead people again?" Dean asked. Even 'drunk', he didn't get rid of that annoying smirk and morbid humor. "Or if our ranch is gonna be burnt down? Oh or maybe you're thinking about clowns…"

"Dean shut up!" Sam hissed at his brother, only to watch in awe as Dean started _giggling_ in response.

He didn't know if he should find it funny or scary. It was kind of a mixture of both.

"Calm yourself, you idiot." Sam shook his head, failing to fight the smile that appeared on his face. "I was just thinking about...well, you know how you told me you missed when it was just us? I feel the same, in a way. I miss when we were hunting, going one place to the next and trying to figure out which monster was killing. I miss the satisfaction that we helped someone when no one else would be able to, how we were this amazing team that could always figure it out."

"You miss hunting?" Dean asked, his still green eyes were wide in shock. "Dude, you always wanted out in one way or another. Sure you just aren't looking back on a time when things were a bit easier and there weren't as many creatures trying to kill us?"

"Of course I miss that too. But I genuinely miss hunting. It used to seem like such a risk to me before...well it _was_ , but it had a nice structure to it that I took for granted."

"You always liked your 'structure'." Dean pulled out the air quotes for the last word.

With a huff, Sam replied. "Yeah, and I looked past it, but it was actually a nice constant in my life. Look for the next case, research, find out what monster it was, and figure out the best way to kill it, all while saving lives."

Dean scrunched up his face, which in his current state, seemed to indicate he was thinking. "You do know we saved all these annoying people in our group, right?"

"Yeah, I get that. It's just…"

"Saving people, hunting Croats and Hades and who knows what the hell else is out there. We're still doing the family business, Sammy."

"Yeah, I guess so. It just feels like what we are doing now is so insignificant."

"Hey! We're taking it upon ourselves to continue the human race. We're gonna live forever and keep that community in the ranch going, every single community that makes it counts. More people to fight against the Croats, yadda yadda yadda."

Sam raised his eyebrows. "You honestly are happy with staying on the ranch? You told me just the other day you miss it being just us."

There, he had finally asked it. He had been wondering for a long time if being part of a community and staying in one place for the most part would be something Dean would enjoy.

"No, I'm gonna hate it and get angry and go on a rampage killing everyone in our group." Dean rolled his eyes. "Yeah I'm happy about it, that's why I'm talking about it so much right now. I can't seem to shut up talking about the truth with how I feel. Yeah, I miss it just being us sometimes, but we need a group to survive, and they aren't that terrible. Plus, once things get settled, we'll have time to do our own stuff, like you said."

Sam shook his head in amazement at the truths coming out of Dean's mouth. He almost couldn't believe it. "Who are you? Are you sure you aren't another demon possessing my brother?"

"Nah, I'm Dean. Just drunk-ish. I'm gonna regret all this once I feel like myself, aren't I?"

"Yeah, you will. But you shouldn't."

"I don't get it. Is that you being all sappy again?"

Sam laughed. "Yeah, basically. And this time I don't have you telling me to shut up." He sighed contently. This was nice. He and Dean should really take out more time to just talk and hang out and be brothers. Not that they were much at fault for not trying, they really hadn't had any good opportunity to do so with everything that had been going on. Once they got in a more stable environment, that would all change.

He got up to put out the fire and close the window a little bit. When he got back in bed, he assumed their conversations were over and Dean would want to go to sleep.

"Come on, let's talk about something else," Dean said after a moment of silence.

"Okay," Sam replied, trying to stifle a yawn. He was exhausted but he didn't want to pass up this opportunity. In fact, maybe he could take advantage of it and ask Dean for a bit more information on his feelings. Part of him felt bad, but he was only doing this because he cared about his brother. "You told me you're happy of the idea of the ranch. But why? Why do you feel comfortable with it when before, you just wanted to get away from everyone?"

He understood that Dean seemed to now enjoy the company of their friends most of the time. What he failed to understand, was _why_.

Dean shrugged. "I don't know, I feel like I can be myself. I don't have to pretend to be old human-me and I don't have to hide anything. If I wasn't on this potion-drink I'd be stressed being in this new town with new people. But I'm not stressed around our group like I was around them before. I kind of fit in, I guess."

It was great to hear that what Sam had been feeling - Dean had as well. He really was fitting in, and Sam was glad that his brother recognized this.

Sam could stop worrying about how it would work once they found a permanent residence. It would take some adjusting, but they'd both be just fine.

"I feel like I'm gonna be really pissed at you for asking me that later," Dean said, his face scrunched up in confusion. "But right now, I just don't give a shit. Ask me some more."

"Nah, I think you're going to be moody enough, no need in getting you even more angry. I'm good. Just try not to ignore me for too long, okay?"

"Fine, I'll try."

Sam laughed quietly and closed his eyes, trying to get some sleep. Although he wouldn't be surprised if Dean decided…

"Sammy?"

Yep, he wasn't done just yet.

"Yeah?"

"Uh, can I ask you something now?"

Now Sam was _really_ intrigued, yet nervous. "Yeah, of course man."

Dean didn't hesitate like he normally would. "What are you scared of the most?"

Sam blinked, taken aback. He wondered what had brought this on, but it was probably better not to ask. He might figure out just by answering the question. "That's easy. Losing you, of course."

There was no doubt in Dean's voice when he responded. "Yeah. Well, me too. In Hell, they did all this shit to me but every single day, what I worried about more than anything else was that I would forget you. Well, not forget but you know...I was afraid I wouldn't care about you at some point when I was becoming a demon."

Vaguely, Sam remembered Dean bringing up this subject not too long ago. But the older brother had told him that never once did he think he would lose that bond he shared with Sam.

"Dean, I thought you told me that you knew you wouldn't stop caring?"

"Well, I wanted to think that I wouldn't no matter what. But I know...I really did worry about it, I just pretended that I wasn't."

"What made you think that?" Sam asked, hoping he could get a bit more insight.

"Well, the whole demon thing. I mean, as my soul broke more and more, I started to not care about a lot of things. I lost a lot of emotions and then even forgot what they used to feel like. A lot of things stopped bothering me and, I don't know, I was afraid that it was out of my control. That to become a demon, once I fully turned, I'd stop caring about you too."

The words sent a sharp pain through Sam's heart, but at the same time, he felt extremely proud of his brother. It was amazing how Dean fought through the physical and emotional tortures of Hell and came out without letting it mold him into the creatures that Hell creates.

"Hey, just the fact that you worried so much about it while you were down there should have been a clue that Hell could never break you."

Dean huffed. "Yeah, I guess so. And I did go there for your whiny ass, so I guess it was fitting."

"Hey, I never asked you to go to Hell for me."

"Well, someone had to save your life after you go around letting people stab you." Dean started giggling again, and hell, Sam found himself smiling too.

How had they gotten here? Being able to laugh about them dying? But maybe being able to find humor in the worst parts of their lives was a good thing.

"And Sammy?" Dean said as soon as he stopped his laughing-fit.

"Mm-hmm?"

"I'd do it again, you know. A million times."

"I know you would, and so would I."

"I'd never let you."

Sam smiled to himself as sleep finally started to claim him. "Yeah, you protective idiot, I know that too."

* * *

"Rise and shine, boys."

Sam groaned at the sound of the voice, not wanting to do anything expect bury his head in the pillow and get some more much-needed rest.

But then he recognized the voice as Tamara's, and knew that the sooner they woke up and had Dean answer her questions, the sooner they could exchange information and mingle with the townspeople. Also, maybe they could have a breakfast that consisted of something other than fish and canned soup.

Sam stretched and sat up. He looked over at his brother who was sprawled out under the covers, laying on his stomach and drooling. Typical Dean.

Tamara sighed, staring at Dean's unmoving form. "Can you wake him up? I want to get this over with."

"Did you really sleep in the chair last night?" Sam found himself asking.

Tamara blushed, but quickly regained her composure. "If you can call that sleeping. I only dozed off for a bit, wanted to make sure he didn't try any escape. I didn't want to risk the safety of my people."

"Hey, I can understand that. You don't know him like we do, he's just a demon to you. I'm just glad you're giving him a chance at all."

"I might feel a lot better about this once he answers the questions I have. Is he going to...freak out when he wakes up or anything?"

"Freak out?"

"Most demons I've captured, like I mentioned, they only slept when they were bored to make time pass by. When I woke them out, they all lashed out at me and seemed to be even angrier than before."

Sam shook his head. "Nothing like that. He usually just bitches and moans and tries to get more sleep."

"Huh." Tamara shook her head, just like she had been doing often when Dean was concerned. "Okay. I'm going to trust you and not pull out my gun. Now let's get him up, I want to see what happens."

Sam walked over to his brother and nudged him. When that evoked no response, Sam smacked him on the back of the head.

"Dude, seriously. Come on the sooner you get up, the sooner you get food."

Dean continued to snore, so Sam decided to go all out. He reached under Dean's chest and picked him up, tossing him on the floor.

Dean finally startled awake. He jumped to his feet immediately and yelled out in a panic. "SAM!"

Great, now Sam felt bad.

"Dude, I'm right here, relax." He placed a hand on Dean's shoulder, hoping it would calm his rapid breathing.

"Sam?" He stated his younger brother's name like a question, clearly confused about something "You okay?"

"Yeah man, I'm fine. Tamara is just here and wants to ask you some questions. I'll give your brain some time to catch up and then sit down on the bed and just answer what she asks. Then we can eat, okay?" Sam felt like he was talking to a toddler, but in a way, it was nice to look after Dean for a change, to give back to his brother in a way.

Dean nodded, but just continued to stand there, so Sam led him over to the bed. He sat down next to his brother in the hopes that it would help Dean focus on what Tamara had to say.

But before the woman could even begin to ask her questions, Dean ignored her and turned to face Sam. "I tried to visit you, but it wasn't working."

Sam instantly understood that Dean was talking about the 'dream world' that they shared. If Dean had been unable to enter because of the state he was in, it probably caused him to unconsciously worry and it explained why he had called out to his little brother in a panic.

Tamara, however, didn't understand any of this. "Okay, Dean. What in the world are you talking about?"

Dean glanced over at her as if he had just realized she was in the room with them. "Me and Sammy can share dreams. This...stupid potion isn't letting me. It was fun at first, now I don't like it. When I'm back to myself, I'm gonna be pissed."

"Dream share?" Tamara's eyebrows rose comically high. "And how can you two do that?"

"Cause we're soulmates and I'm a demon, so I can make it happen."

Sam internally breathed a sigh of relief that Dean hadn't mentioned the demon blood. What he said WAS true, but the details had been left out. Thankfully, they seemed to have dodged the biggest bullet.

The poor woman was probably wishing to slam her head against the wall with the confusion she had to be facing. "Soulmates? I'd ask, but I don't even care. How about we start with me asking what your name is?"

"Dean Winchester. Duh. Don't ask stupid questions."

"And who do you serve?" Tamara's voice grew more serious, and Sam knew this was an important question. He honestly didn't know what Dean's answer would be.

Dean didn't hesitate. He grinned over at Sam. "My brother. I only listen to Sammy."

Sam smacked his forehead. "Since when do you listen to me? You're always putting yourself in danger and not listening to my advice that would keep you safe!"

"I try to. Really, I'm trying, Sammy. I just… I don't know how to think of myself, but I'm trying to 'cause you want me to."

"Okay, good." Sam was happy to hear that. "Just keep trying, okay?"

Dean turned back to Tamara. "Sammy's the best. He's my best friend."

At that moment, Sam wanted nothing more than to hide under the bed in embarrassment. Instead, he settled for blushing and shaking his head.

"You know, this is actually pretty sweet." Tamara was even smiling a little bit. "But I do have to get on with the more important questions. Now, have you killed anyone?"

Dean barked out a laugh. "Hasn't everyone? I know you have. World's nuts now."

Tamara seemed taken aback. "Well, yes. I suppose you're right. I should say, have you killed anyone before the outbreak as a demon?"

"Uh, do you count the people who were possessed by demons?"

"No. Actual humans who weren't inflicted by anything supernatural."

"Uh…" Dean squinted his eyes and appeared to be thinking. "Before the outbreak, no. After the outbreak, hell yeah."

"Okay," Tamara seemed pleased with that answer. "And why did you kill them?"

"Same reasons we all do. They're either batshit crazy or evil sonunvabitches. Gotta protect Sammy from the assholes that wanna hurt or kill him."

The woman nodded in response, the next question already on the tip of her tongue. "What is the worst you've done to a human before the outbreak?"

Dean huffed, rolling his eyes. "I don't know. Isn't that a...subjective question?"

"Just give me some things you would consider."

"Okay, well...I set a jerky motel-owner's car on fire. I made a rich asshole crash his car when he almost hit us," Dean rolled his eyes when he caught the shock on Tamara's face. "Don't worry, he was fine, made sure it was just his stupid car that got damaged. And uhhh…I don't know, I've stolen a bunch of things, irritated a lot of people, and slept with a lot of women."

Tamara's eyes widened. "Consensual I would hope."

Dean groaned and Sam didn't blame him. He was sure his poor brother was tired of people insinuating that he was capable of rape. "Of course! You've heard enough about me by now, wouldn't you realize I'm not some rapist? There's no enjoyment in that shit, I hate the thought of it. I want to have fun when I have sex. Hell, the ones that know I'm a demon, it's even better."

"They...they know you're a demon?" Tamara covered her mouth in a gasp. "And they still sleep with you?"

"A few of em, yeah. I don't like secrets. And I'm an awesome ride in bed. And I'm hot."

"Oh my god." Sam covered his ears, blushing yet again. He was looking more and more forward to Dean's 'drunkness' wearing out.

Tamara just shook her head. Sam was sure that nothing could surprise her regarding Dean any longer. "Okay, enough. I believe everything you said. I don't think you are a threat to anyone here. You only hurt people that hurt you and your brother. Just two more questions, moreso because I'm curious."

"Fine. Hurry."

"Why do you travel with and protect these townspeople? From what they said, you saved them, over and over."

Dean shrugged again. "I don't know. I don't hate them. I don't even not-like them. They're okay and they accept me for what I am. I don't have to pretend. Plus, safety in numbers. Might as well keep a group of people that trust each other alive."

The woman nodded her understanding. From the look in her eyes, the younger brother knew that Tamara understood that on some level, Dean had the capacity to care about these people. At least in a way where he wanted them in his life rather than dead.

"And your brother," she began to say. "Is it the same with him?"

Dean barked out a loud laugh. "Pssh, no. I love Sammy."

Sam abruptly stood up, his cheeks felt like they were on fire. "Okay, please. Now that question I believe was just done to embarrass me. You knew he would say that." He glared at Tamara, avoiding Dean's gaze. At the woman's sly smirk, Sam sighed. "Good one."

"Hey, you brought a demon into my town, I had to get you back somehow." Tamara was fully smiling now. "I know I shouldn't, but I am going to allow him in. This goes against everything I believe, but I can't deny what I'm seeing and hearing. He is different, I didn't believe there was such a thing."

"That's 'cause I'm awesome. And I got Sammy, he's kinda awesome too." Dean's grin didn't fade even when Tamara and Sam both rolled their eyes.

"Most of your group already went to eat, but some are still here waiting for you. Just follow me."

Sam had been concerned about Dean's behavior in town, but thankfully, he seemed to have over-worried. Dean was being chatty and goofy, but it wasn't like he was falling over or just shouting out random things.

Dean decided to describe everything he was seeing and point out random things to Sam and the others. Actually, some of his insights were rather helpful, as he mentioned the farm that the community had and the types of food they were growing. He also commented on what kind of materials he believed they built their gated wall with. In this circumstance, Sam was actually glad that Dean would later remember everything he had seen while under the influence of the potion.

They arrived late to breakfast, but there was still food available. Sam's mouth watered as he took in the smells of the eggs, hashbrowns and veggies. There were a few people still behind the counter in the kitchen, and one woman told them to take as much as they wanted.

Of course, Dean wasn't going to back down on that opportunity. His plate was piled so high that food was falling to the floor as he walked over to one of the tables.

"Hurry, pick that up for me Sammy, five-second rule. Not about to waste some perfectly good food."

Sam sighed, but picked it up anyway. This was one of those times that he actually agreed with his brother's strange logic.

They sat down with Heather and Carl and soon, Bobby and Sadie joined them, having waited in the hotel for Tamara to allow Dean out.

"This is almost just like what the dining hall will look like at the ranch!" Heather informed them excitedly. She was cuddled next to Carl on the other side of the picnic-like table.

Sam glanced around. This was one of several buildings on Tamara's property, and one of the biggest. It was built out of food, and similar to the hotel rooms, had a very cabin-esque atmosphere to it. There was a giant fireplace near a bar, and the room was airy, with a good amount of tables evenly spaced out with a lot of room to walk in-between.

"I think ours will be even nicer, if I'm remembering correctly. There's a small second floor that overlooks the dining area with a reading nook and pool table."

Dean finally stopped eating like he was dying and glanced up at Heather. "Hell yeah. Awesome. I'm gonna kick all of your asses."

"Yeah?" Bobby huffed. The smile in his eyes betraying the fact that he was happy to see Dean so relaxed. "Like to try and see you take me on."

"Fine, you've got a match, old man."

"Dean," Carl butted in, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Would you consider me and Heather to be your friends?"

Dean shrugged, never pausing in his quest to devour his breakfast as quickly as possible. "I don't really know what it's like to have a friend anymore. Except Sammy, but he's my soulmate. I guess a regular friend would be like Bobby. So, yeah. I guess you guys are, kinda."

Sam pointed his fork at Carl's snickering face. "If you instigate him into giving another rambling embarrassing answer, you're going to regret it."

"Ooh, whatcha gonna do Sam?" Carl feigned fright while Heather giggled next to him.

"Oh not me." Sam grinned wickedly and put an arm around Dean's shoulder. "This guy right here is going to remember everything once that potion wears off. And he's gonna be pissed."

Carl huffed. "Great. Looks like my food rations are going to go missing again."

"Or he'll leave you stranded and naked after he steals your clothes after taking a bath."

"Yeah, like I did with Allen. He had the angel boy as a spectator too." Dean started to laugh, and then began to cough as the massive bite of food got stuck in the back of his throat.

With a hard pat on the back, Sam cleared Dean's windpipe. "Dean, maybe next time you should try chewing."

Dean didn't even seem to register Sam's comment. "Can I go get more?"

"More? What, no! The sooner you're finished, the sooner we can explore this place and…" Sam paused, an idea coming into play in order to get his brother to behave. "...and we can hang out, like you said you wanted to."

"Oh, well why didn't you say so? Come on!" Dean grabbed Sam's (thankfully good) arm and practically yanked him out the door.

Sam would have liked to finish eating breakfast, but hey, at least he finally got Dean's attention off the food.

They passed by many people who waved at them while allowing the visitors their space. It was strange to see the residents so at ease with strangers, they must really trust Tamara completely with their safety.

The brothers continued walking until they came upon a pond. There was a river connected to it that led into the forest outside the gates, causing the pond to be full of fish. Several men and women stood at the edge, fishing in the summer sun.

Taking some time to simply relax, they stared at the relaxing scene for a few moments, before Dean spoke up.

"Heather said we'll have a pond and rivers too. Fishing can be a job, you know, we can sign people up."

Sam nodded. "That's a good idea. I'm sure some people would like that for their job."

"No, Sam." Dean huffed as if Sam was the one whose head wasn't clear. "Not just a job for a few people where that's all they do, like Sadie had it. I think we should...we should have it where everyone does different jobs on different days. Liven it up a bit. I know I'd get annoyed doing the same boring repetitive shit day after day."

"Oh! That's actually a really good idea, Dean." Sam was pretty disappointed that he hadn't thought of that idea himself.

"You say it like I always think of dumb-ass ideas."

"Well…" Sam trailed off with a smirk, causing Dean to shove him. Even with his strength dimmed, Dean's push would have been enough to send Sam to the ground if he hadn't been expecting it. "Okay, I take it back. You have maybe… a _handful_ of good ideas."

"Yeah, right. Anyway…" Dean's eyes went bright with excitement. Sam almost forgot about that expression, having not seeing Dean's human eyes in so long. "So we can have this list of daily jobs and each person can only sign up for the same job twice a week max. The goal is to have variety and experience doing different things. And everyone gets two days off. But we gotta do ours together."

They started walking away from the pond as Sam spoke next. "Well, the jobs that require leaving our community we definitely will do together. But I bet one day you are going to assist Marcy in the kitchen, and one day teach the kids." Sam grinned at Dean's scowl. "And I sure as hell am _not_ doing those."

"Fine. What do you wanna do, Sammy?"

Sam was shocked that Dean wasn't arguing about them sticking together. Maybe he actually was getting better at trusting Sam, even if it was just letting him do his own thing within their new home.

"I'm not really sure yet. I might like to help with the garden. Maybe do some mundane things like make sure everything is working properly. Clean the pool, mow the lawn…"

"My god, you're boring. I can't believe we're related." Dean sounded horrified at Sam's selections.

"Hey, you should be happy. With those kind of jobs, I'm not going to get hurt."

Dean's expression changed suddenly, and his gaze centered in on Sam's arm, the one that had been shot. "Your arm. We have to check on it."

"It's fine. It's just sore." It was actually a lot more than that, but it wasn't anything that he couldn't handle.

"No. They probably have a doctor, we have to find them." Dean dragged Sam along until they approached a random citizen sitting on a bench, reading a book.

The man looked up at them, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, the visitors. Do you two need…"

"My brother. He was shot. We need to see a doctor," Dean rudely interrupted the man.

"Shot?" The man's eyes widened in horror. He stood up immediately. "When?"

"Hello, I'm sorry," Sam began but had to address his brother when he started to panic. "Dean, relax…"

Dean decided to interrupt Sam as well. "Before we came here, after we crossed the Missouri River. I patched him up but I want him to be looked at."

"Okay. We have a doctor. She worked in a hospital back in the old days. I'll lead you to her. Tamara will want to know about the people who shot you though, that's not _too_ far away from here, and we should go and check it out."

They followed the man past the lodge they had stayed in while Sam apologized for his brother's behavior. The whole time Dean was explaining the encounter with the shooters in detail, and the man seemed grateful for his honesty. Maybe it was a good thing that Dean wasn't himself, as he was much more amicable and less guarded under the influence of the potion.

The area to the east of the lodge was far different than the west part that they had been in. While the west was more open, with several large buildings and open fields where kids had been playing, the side they were on now was very forested and contained dozens of small cabins.

"This is the residential area," the man informed them. "Most of us live in these cabins, although a few do live on the first floor of the lodge you were staying in. The doctor, Kayleigh, she thought it was best to use the cabin next to her as an infirmary to look after her patients."

"That's stupid," Dean responded. "What if someone is really sick? The disease will spread throughout your camp."

"Oh, no. This infirmary is only for people with injuries. We have a quarantine ward deeper into the forest, closer to the gates. Luckily, we haven't had any major illnesses, so it's not used as much. If someone gets a cold or minor virus, we aren't too worried about that. It's probably better for people to build up their immune system anyway."

They walked a few minutes longer before they arrived at Kayleigh's cabin. A pretty hispanic woman opened the door. She was probably in her early to mid-thirties, and Sam could already see Dean's interest in her.

Unfortunately, Kayleigh didn't seem to show the same interest. In fact, she almost looked frightened when she saw the brothers. She quickly schooled her features though and changed her expression to one of confusion.

"Uh, is everything okay?" The man asked Kayleigh, glancing to the brothers before turning back to her. It didn't seem like he recognized her initial fright, but did notice something was off.

"Yeah, yeah. I just...I think I recognize these two. Are these the visitors?"

"Yeah, they are friends of Tamara's."

"Did you two come from Sioux Falls?" she called over to the brothers.

"Yeah," Sam answered. "Originally we resided not too far from there."

She nodded, although she didn't seem to relax entirely. "That explains it. I was living in the city for some time before I decided to make a run for it. Are you two here to get looked at?"

"My brother got shot and I want to know if he'll be okay." Dean started pushing Sam forward, toward the door. Sam watched as Kayleigh eyed Dean warily. To anyone else but a hunter, it wouldn't be noticed, but Sam knew something was going on.

"I'll take care of them." She waved to the man who had brought them here. "Thanks for bringing them my way."

"Follow me next door, I'll take care of you there," Kayleigh explained. As soon as the door closed, she turned to Dean and narrowed her eyes. "I know you're a demon. How did you get past the test?"

Sam felt his heart fall to his stomach, and Dean was so shocked that he stumbled backwards, hitting the corner of an end table and falling onto his butt.

Kayleigh didn't make any move to attempt to attack either of them though. Instead, she raised an eyebrow at Dean. "What's wrong with you?"

"Uh, Tamara gave me this thing so I have to be honest and lose my powers for a bit."

"Listen," Sam started, pulling out his puppy-dog look for good measure. "Tamara knows he's a demon. She gave him this potion so she could interrogate him safely while it makes him more prone to being open and honest. He's not your typical demon. He's good, he saves people. I'm Sam. And he's my brother Dean…"

"I know who you two are."

"What?" both brothers asked in unison.

"Let me take a look at your wound while I explain." She beckoned them forward, toward a medical cot she had set up. She seemed a lot more at ease than she had been initially.

"You're not gonna lead me into a devil's trap or anything?" Dean asked, letting Sam help him off the floor.

"There are no devil's traps in here. Tamara must trust you if she allowed you in, and I trust her."

The brothers exchanged a glance, silently deciding together that they would allow the woman to work on Sam's wound. The younger brother sat down on the edge of the bed while Kayleigh pulled up a chair next to him. Dean sat down on the bed right next to Sam, watching her movements intently.

"Can you...go sit on the other bed? Or sit in the chair over there? You're in my space," Kayleigh asked Dean.

"No."

The woman sighed. "Fine. Then you can at least help. Hand me the peroxide in that cabinet, and get some gauze as well." She focused her attention on Sam while Dean searched for the supplies. "I know what Tamara gave him. I saw her give it to other demons before when she wanted information. But she never invited them in. She tied them up in a location outside of our base and interrogated them. When she was done with them, she sent them back to Hell."

"You probably want to know why she let Dean in then, right?"

"Nope, I know why she did," Kayleigh said, reaching into a first aid kit. "I'm going to redo your stitches. They look okay but I want to thoroughly clean your wound to make sure it doesn't get infected."

She continued to work on Sam's arm while she began to explain her story. "I was in Souix Falls in the beginning, like I said. I actually saw you two a lot. I noticed his eyes too, thought he was one of the murdering demons even though by then, the demonic killings had slowed down. I watched how you two kept saving people and well…"

She paused for a while, working on re-stitching Sam in silence. Once she was finished, she started talking again, her voice wavering for the first time since the brothers met her. "I was with my ex-boyfriend. We… we quickly realized our romantic relationship wasn't meant to be, during the beginning stages of the outbreak. But we stuck together, we still cared for one another. He...we were arguing over if we should leave the town, or go down and meet you two the next time you came into town. As you can see, I decided not to meet you. He...he did. He ran right up to you both as you were rescuing a woman and her child."

It didn't take long for Sam to remember the person that Kayleigh was talking about. It was the man that had approached them when they had found Heather and her son. "I remember him," Sam told her. "His name was Tyler."

Kayleigh's smile was sad. "I take it that 'was _'_ means he didn't make it. Was he shot on the trip in too?"

Sam shook his head. "No. No one died in the shooting. Actually, at our first home-base, there was this man who was...well, there was something wrong with him. We only saw him as a jerk, but after he tried to kill Dean, we sent him away because we realized how dangerous he was."

"Oh yeah, Freddie," Dean piped up. "I almost forgot about that asshole. He came back and set our whole place on fire, killed a bunch of people."

Sam sighed sadly, realizing how many survivors had perished that night. The majority of the people they had saved in Sioux Falls hadn't made it past Bobby's junkyard. "I'm so sorry, we saved as many as we could."

Kayleigh nodded and cleared her throat. "It's okay. The odds of survival are low. You couldn't have expected that man to retaliate the way he did. Anyway," she turned to face Dean, who was inspecting Sam's new stitches as if he were insulted that Kayleigh had removed his. "Do you want me to look at your arm now or what?"

"Huh? I'm a demon, I don't need medical attention."

"Well, something is obviously wrong with it, if it's in a sling. Let me take a look."

"He was stabbed by a knife that can kill demons if it had landed a fatal blow," Sam explained. "He's lucky to have any movement at all. That arm is now as weak as a human's, and it had been broken a few times."

"Alright then, even more of a reason for me to take a look."

"Please." Sam smiled kindly at her, appreciating the woman's candor, yet caring, attitude.

"I understand why she let him in. He's not evil, I could see that just from watching him back in the city. He saves people. And since he came here with a group, it's even more obvious he's not like the rest. I'm going to talk to Tamara, it would be nice to have your group as allies. We could… well, that looks infected."

Sam immediately went to inspect Dean's arm. She was right. In the places that Dean's arm had broken and the bone had snapped through, the wounds were inflamed.

"Dean! Why the hell didn't you tell me!" While Sam would help Dean put on the sling, Dean was able to wrap his bicep on his own by using his powers to assist him. Sam had trusted that his brother would tell him if something looked wrong.

Dean wasn't concerned. "I'm a demon, I didn't think it could get infected. I thought it was just healing."

"It's like a human arm, remember, Dean?" Sam huffed in frustration. "It's susceptible to anything humans could suffer from!"

"Okay, I really didn't know! Can we all just shut up and fix it?"

"Yes, I'm going to do that right now." Kayleigh examined the wounds closer. "I'm going to drain the pus and clean out the wounds. This probably happened because you kept using the same old bandages. This is going to hurt."

"Honey, I can't feel anything right now. Go ahead, tear me open."

"I'm not going to… oh, haha. I can see that you just think you're hilarious."

"And I can see you're warming up to me. I can keep you even warmer in your bed."

"DEAN!" Sam's concern for his brother was slowly fading away into annoyance.

Kayleigh, however, took it all in stride. "Trust me, I've met way better charming men than you. You're gonna have to work a lot harder to win me over. And right now, I'm pretty disgusted." She pointed down at his infected arm.

Having met his match, Dean finally shut up, although he didn't seem happy about it. Sam made small chat with Kayleigh while she finished fixing Dean up, finding out more about the camp and how it was run.

"Alright, keep that tightly bandaged. I'll find a few more wraps and hand them over for Tamara to give you before you leave. If you just wash them now and then, it should help a lot." Kayleigh told them after she finished, seeing them to the door. Dean walked out without so much as a thank you, while Sam stayed on the porch.

"I'll make sure he remembers that." Sam smiled at her. "Thank you."

She raised her eyebrows in response. "You sure he's the one who's the big brother?"

"Heh, sometimes I'm not quite sure."

"It was good to finally meet you both and to see that at least Tyler was with good people during his final months. I _will_ talk to Tamara later. I'm sure we'll be able to convince our group that Dean is an ally and our groups can become partners."

With a final goodbye, Sam set off to see what Dean had gotten into while the conversation had been going on.

Dean had wandered a few cabins down, standing in the forest talking to a bunch of kids. Upon closer inspection, one of them was Aiden.

"Sammy!" Dean exclaimed as his brother approached him. "There you are! Come here, we're gonna play hide and seek. You're gonna seek, 'cause I don't trust myself not to get lost looking for everyone."

"Seriously, Dean?"

"Yeah, come on! We've been through so much shit lately and we can finally relax while we're here, let's have some fun while we can! This was your favorite game to play as a kid."

Sam rolled his eyes. "My favorite game that Dad wouldn't let me play because he was convinced I'd get abducted by some creature while hiding."

"But I always found time to play it with you when he was gone, didn't I? Let's make up for our cruddy childhood! Live a little!"

"Yeah, Sam play with us! Please!" Aiden begged and began tugging on Sam's shirt.

Sam looked around, catching sight of Tamara, who was standing not too far from Kayleigh's house. She had probably been keeping watch on them. The brothers did have a lot to still discuss with the woman. They needed to talk about what both parties knew about the virus and its mutations, along with many other important topics.

But… Dean was right. Why not have an hour of fun before going back into the real world? The conversation with Tamara could wait.

"Alright! You've got thirty seconds to hide! And Dean...no cheating!"

* * *

The body lay crumpled on the pavement, its skin turned gray and shriveled. And the wings...the beautiful wings of her child were reduced to mere feathers scattered across the ground.

Each time one of her children passed on, Eve was alerted by the death with an intense pain that filled her entire being. When it was a new creation, that pain was even more intense.

"I don't understand," she spoke to herself, gazing down at the body in sorrow. "Not one new creation has survived beyond a week."

She didn't know what was causing these beautiful, young children to perish so quickly. And this one, so full of hope and power, had gone in only a few days.

Eve tried not to think about how so many of her older children were dying as well. They thrived on the existence of humans. Many needed their blood, meat or life force to remain alive, and humans were hard to come by these days.

She needed to create just the right monster, something that was not too powerful. Something simple, yet deadly. She would keep experimenting, it was only a matter of time before the right combination would work.

If she did not find something quickly, her children would become extinct.

The new mutation of Croats would help. The mutation was not spreading to all Croats as she had wanted, but surely enough of them would be out there. One of them was bound to bite someone in the Winchesters' group, and once they were bitten, the beacon would lead her straight to them… and right to the Winchesters.

She would not underestimate them like Alastair did. The brothers would be taken out before they could cause any more harm.

Eve knelt down by her fallen child and brushed a hand over his body. "You will not die in vain, my young one. I will avenge your death and learn from it. Fight well in Purgatory."

It was time to get to work.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Not sure how many people are left out there that are. Please let me know if you are, and what you thought. Just hoping there is still interest in this.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone still reading! And a big thanks to my beta Gabi for looking over this so quickly and giving me good advice about this chapter. Because of her help and ideas, I changed the ending of the chapter and I really like it a lot more than what I originally had.
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys. We left off with the brothers and their group relaxing in Tamara's camp.

"Hey." Sam walked over to Tamara, who was sitting on a bench, watching as Dean continued to play with the kids, who now were onto a game of tag.

"Having fun?" Tamara smirked at Sam.

"Actually, yeah. It's been one bad thing after the next for us, we all really needed something good to happen." Sam trailed off as he focused on watching Dean chase after a kid. He tripped over a tree branch and fell to the ground. Laughing, he turned to face Sam, who gave him a sarcastic thumbs up.

"I'm glad that I let you all in. I understand all too well what you were experiencing." She looked down at her lap. Sam wasn't sure if she wanted to continue talking about it, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

"What's your story?"

"Not too far off from everyone else's. I hunted solely demons after what happened to Isaac. It became an...obsession. I don't think I was going to make it much further actually. I was hoping that somewhere, I would slip up, that I didn't have to go through this hell without him."

Sam nodded, her words bringing up the intense pain from that year without Dean. But unlike Tamara, Sam's pain was only a horrible memory. He had gotten his brother back. Different, sure, but still there in every way that mattered.

"I was hoping the same when I lost Dean. I couldn't do it myself but...I was just waiting for something to kill me."

Tamara placed a hand on Sam's knee and a moment later, they locked eyes. "I'm happy you got him back. I'm so glad he didn't change into one of those things."

"I'm lucky," Sam agreed. "I still can't believe it sometimes, that I get a second chance with my brother and he's still... _him_...even after everything he went through."

"I hated them so much, the demons. But I'd give anything, anything, to have Isaac back as Dean is now. I had so much anger inside of me but then...the virus broke out. There were demons and Croats and so much death. Everyone left alive was suddenly in the same boat as me. We were all alone, and I had to try and protect as many people as I could."

She looked out at the forest, smiling at the kids. "Isaac's death still hurt like hell, and it always will. But I saw an actual purpose for myself for the first time since he was murdered. I needed to be able to put a stop to all the deaths, even if it was just a small group of people. I didn't want them to have to watch anyone else they cared about die. So, I found survivors and we decided to look for a settlement. Our group got larger and we grew closer. With our teamwork, we decided on this forest and discovered this lodge and camp."

"I'm so relieved to find out you were here, and you have your own group as well. We've run into a lot of bad people, and despite Dean's protests, I was beginning to think there was no one left that hadn't let this world change them into a monster."

"I heard Bobby mention Hades?"

"Yeah, we'll have to tell you about that, we found some pretty shocking information tying him to the Croats and Eve."

"Eve?"

"She's someone we just recently discovered. Bobby will be able to explain more."

"Yo, Tamara, quit stealing my brother away from me." They heard Dean's voice and looked up to see him approaching. "Unless you two wanna get frisky, then by all means, please get him laid. He needs something to loosen him up."

"Actually, he was the one that came to me," Tamara said back before Sam could yell at his brother.

"Ooh, Sammy! Makin' the first move! Thatta boy."

"Dean. If you don't shut up right now, I'm going to kill you."

"Oh, what about that doctor chick? I saw how you two were talking after I walked away. She was giving you the flirty-eyes the entire time!"

"She was not!"

"You're either blind or want to be miserable. Do something fun for yourself for once! Don't leave her hanging."

"Sam, I think I can confirm your brother's suspicions. Truthfully." Tamara winked at him.

"I told you!"

"She does not like me. You two are ridiculous."

"Really?" Tamara questioned, her tone was teasing. "I just talked to her about you two. Not only did she tell me that she helped heal your wounds, but she mentioned how sweet the 'tall hot one' was."

"If you pass this one up, you're an idiot," Dean told him in a serious tone that didn't match the crazy grin he wore.

"I'll think about it," Sam relented. It _had_ been a long time, and she was pretty...and interested.

"There you go, making big brother proud!"

Sam rolled his eyes, giving in when Dean wrapped an arm around his shoulders and ruffled his hair in an attempt at a one-armed noogie.

"She also informed me that she knew you were a demon," Tamara continued on, ignoring the brothers' shenanigans. "She saw you both saving people in Sioux Falls."

"Yep, small world." Dean let go of Sam. "Now are you gonna help encourage Sam to hook up with the girl or what?"

"Is your attention span always this short, or is it the potion?" Tamara held up a hand. "Don't answer that, I don't need you blabbing some more. To answer your question, Sam has the entire rest of the day to go visit her. Right now, Bobby is waiting for us. Time to talk important matters."

* * *

Sam stared at the whiteboard in front of him, trying to think of anything else they may have missed.

_Virus Stages_

_Original infection - Can be killed with a bullet to the head or decapitation. Weakest of the Croats. Does not seem to be many more around._

_Mutation 1 - Can not longer be killed with a bullet to the brain. Must decapitate to destroy. Dangerous in large groups as they are faster and stronger._

_Mutation 2 - Can now kill demons. These Croats appear even more feral. Unaware if they have any extra strength. We are to assume most Croats are infected at this stage._

_Mutation 3 - No longer spreads the infection, but leaves a mark that will act as a 'beacon' for Eve to find the victim. She will turn them into one of her monsters once she does. Unknown if this mutation still kills demons. This mutation does not spread well, only has about a 30 percent chance to spread to other Croats._

_Monsters are now controlled by Eve to kill on sight or do other work for her. Some are able to fight it for a short period of time. It's noted that there are a few monsters that are completely unaffected by her commands, but it is unknown as to why._

_Some of these monsters still choose to work with her, but we assume there are others that may be out in hiding. It would be beneficial to find one of these monsters and question them about why they can resist her spell._

Sam looked over to the other board at his writing, which contained more information on Eve and her possible plans, including the fact that she was creating new monsters.

"Dean, you wanna take a look at this and see if we missed anything?"

When he received no answer, Sam turned around.

Dean was spinning in the office chair he was sitting in, humming to himself, totally oblivious to anything going on around him.

"DEAN!"

Dean stopped his spinning, looking around the room in confusion before his eyes settled on the board. "Oh. Sorry, Sammy. Can't really concentrate."

"I can see that. Can you at least try and look this over and let me know if we are missing anything?"

"Okay, yeah." Dean walked over to the board and squinted at it. "Umm okay, what about how most monsters are affected by her control but some aren't?"

"Did you even read the board? It's right there." Sam pointed impatiently at the end of the list.

"Oh, okay. Uhhhh, oh! The thing where the souls are trapped inside the Croats and heaven is closed."

"Wait, what?" Tamara asked, standing up from where she had been seated at the table.

They had called a 'hunter's meeting' which had comprised of the brothers, Tamara, Ellen, Jo and Bobby. They had also asked Castiel to come along, assuming that his knowledge and bluntness would be helpful.

Right now, it seemed that was true as Castiel began to answer Tamara's question. "Dean is correct. Once a human has turned into a Croat, their soul is trapped inside their body. It is being used as a source of fuel for the virus. If the Croat is killed, the soul is sent to Hell."

"Why is it sent to Hell? Surely it's known that the soul that was trapped in the body was not at fault for what the virus made their body do?"

"It is a demonic virus. The Croats belong to the demons," Castiel explained.

"Every Croat we kill, we also destroy the soul of a person?"

"If I am to be honest, after the virus feeding off of their soul, I am not sure how much of that person would be left. There is most likely nothing left to save, the weakened soul is the perfect match for turning into a quick demon in Hell."

"And heaven is closed? Does that mean when we die, we all go to Hell instead?" Tamara was shaking her head in disbelief.

"Good people do not get sent to Hell. Instead, their souls remain here, on Earth. But the demons have been collecting the stray souls they can find and drag them down to Hell." Castiel spoke about the situation with a calmness that didn't match the horrible words he was saying.

Tamara ran a hand over her face. "This is insane! I knew about the monsters acting out, but Eve? This...creator of all monsters who is controlling them all? And now learning about the souls being trapped inside of the Croats and being sent to Hell upon their death? This battle...it's grown out of control. We can't win this."

Dean huffed. "Yeah we can. All we gotta do is take down Eve."

"Dean," Sam addressed his brother. "There is still the problem with the demons, even if Eve is taken down and the monsters disperse. Remember what Cas said about demons taking control of major cities?"

"Well, then we can…"

"Wait!" Tamara interrupted Dean. "We've seen this too. A group of my people travel to gather supplies every few weeks and look for survivors. They also try and find information as to what is going on. Months back, they went to Bismark and found the city was starting to house a good population of demons. They heard the demons talk about taking over all major cities. But when they went back just a week ago, there was no trace of demons."

"They fled the city? Maybe they went to Sioux Falls instead, and those are the demons that we ran into?" Sam pointed out.

"No." Dean shook his head. "Demons wouldn't completely abandon one post for another. Their plan was to take over all the major cities I thought."

"They said they saw a lot of fresh bodies that had been bitten by Croats. I assumed they weren't the hosts of demons, because why would they dump the bodies just because the were bitten? But now…"

"They could have been the bodies of the demons. They were bitten and died because of the third mutation. And all the surviving demons would have fled," Sam explained his theory.

"That many Croats attacked the city?" Dean huffed. "How? We never even saw that many in Sioux Falls. The only time there was that many was after the initial outbreak."

"But we got attacked by a large group at the hotel," Sam reminded his brother. "This sounds like it could be the same. And I think the reason we got ambushed is that it was set up...by Eve."

Everyone was silent for a few moments as they took in this information. It was Ellen that spoke next.

"So what you're saying is that...Eve must have also set up an ambush on Bismark?"

Sam saw Jo nodding, agreeing with her mother's train of thought. "Did your people see more than the average amount of Croats in the city?" she addressed Tamara.

"Actually, they did see a lot. They weren't able to loot for long because of it. But we don't normally travel to cities as large as Bismark, so we just assumed that there were bound to be more Croats."

"I think we're all on to something," Sam told the group of hunters. "I think our hunch is right that Eve _did_ send Croats into Bismark. Maybe she was using them to test out the third mutation. It did lead to one good thing though, as the closest large city to this camp is now demon-free. Demons would have been a bigger threat than the Croats, who will probably stay in Bismark wandering aimlessly."

"One less thing for us to worry about," Dean mumbled. "Stupid fuckin' demons."

Tamara raised an eyebrow at him "So you're calling yourself stupid?"

"Hey, when did I ever say I _wasn't_ stupid? Didn't I just chug that whole stupid potion? That's stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid."

Sam sighed, walking over to Dean and hauling him up onto his feet. "I think I just discovered his second favorite word, after awesome. I'm gonna get him something to eat before he gets even more delirious. Thank you for the information Tamara, it was really helpful."

"No, thank _you_. All of you. I mean it, we never would have figured this all out on our own. I just realized how low our chances of survival really were, with us not knowing everything about what was going on out there. Now, we stand a much better chance and can be prepared." She smiled at the group. "Just go enjoy yourselves now, no more meetings or monster-talking. You all deserve some rest before getting back on the road."

With the promise of food, Sam didn't have to drag Dean out of the door. This time, they would actually be on time for their meal and Sam looked forward to conversing with some of the townspeople. He was sure it would be the complete opposite of what the dining hall was like in Hades' town.

Dean seemed to have ideas of his own, as Sam noticed him giving a pretty, young African American woman a flirtatious smirk. She winked in response, beckoning him over to a table where she sat with some girlfriends.

Sam sighed. "Go on, have your fun. Just don't get lost when you're trying to find your way back from her place."

"Only if you go and have _your_ fun." Dean not-so-stealthily motioned toward another table, where Kayleigh was sitting and...smiling at him. Oh god.

"Do it Sammy. Go over. Do it, do it, do it…"

"Okay, okay! If it will get you to shut up, then I'll do anything!"

 _Well,_ Sam thought as he walked over to the table anxiously. _This is well overdue…_

* * *

The next morning, Sam stepped out of the shower, feeling refreshed and ready to get on the road. While he would miss this community and the safety of it, he was looking forward to starting their own.

Tamara had once again insisted that she would make every effort to convince her people that the brothers' group could be trusted after she revealed Dean was a demon. She told him it probably would take some time, but reassured him that they all had interacted and lived with Dean for over a day with no problems and should be able to come around.

"Even though we have each other, I know everyone feels extremely isolated. If we have your group as partners, that will help us feel less alone," Tamara had said. "And Dean brings powers and abilities that will be able to help us, the rest of you have so much knowledge...I don't think the majority of my people will want to lose that connection."

They came up with an idea of how to stay in touch. Sam had mentioned the demon-call blood bowl and Bobby had shared the chant that he had found in Rufus' cabin. If Tamara ever needed to talk with them, she only had to give Dean a call.

Sam really hoped that luck would continue stay on their side, as fragile as that may be, and Tamara's people would eventually accept Dean once they were told.

"Ugh...oh. Oh god."

Speaking of Dean, Sam looked up from where he had been tying his boots to see his older brother finally rubbing at his eyes, looking much more together...but also extremely pissed.

"Hey, welcome back." Sam sniggered, trying to keep the teasing at a minimum.

Dean stopped his incessant eye-rubbing and glared at Sam, his eyes falling to black. "Oh, don't you even start. Yesterday did _not_ happen, you hear me?"

"Oh it didn't? I clearly remember you giving me great detail about how you hooked up with not one, but _two_ girls at the _same time_."

"Hey, that...that I'm not going to regret. That was fucking awesome. Everything else though…" Dean trailed off, suddenly looking extremely embarrassed. Sam could practically sense the memories of what he had said flowing through his brother's mind.

"Dean, hey. You were…"

Dean stood up suddenly and pushed past Sam, face locked in a grimace once again. "I'm taking a shower. Be ready when I'm out. We're leaving here as soon as we can."

Sam let out a long sigh. While he had been looking forward to Dean getting back to normal, he had been hoping that by some small chance, Dean wouldn't react in this way.

Who was he kidding?

When Dean ambled out of the shower, trying to wrap up his bad arm by using his powers, Sam jumped in front of him.

"Uh uh. You remember what the doctor said, you need to keep that wound treated."

Dean's irritated expression suddenly changed to amusement. "Oh, yeah doctor lady. I saw that smile on your face last night."

"Yeah, and I'm shocked you didn't beg me for details." Sam rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I was exhausted. Barely got out the story of my wild threesome before I passed out." Dean wagged his eyebrows with a smirk.

"Oh god, please don't remind me of that. Way more information than I ever needed to know."

"So what about you? How did doctor chick cure that bitch-face of yours? I bet she was…oww, hey!"

Sam had tugged on Dean's arm more than necessary and gave his brother a warning glare. "It was nice. Now shut up and let me clean your wound. Someone's gotta take care of you."

Dean mumbled something under his breath that contained the word 'bitch'. Sam smiled, it was good to have his brother back to normal.

Sam cleaned and re-wrapped Dean's arm, making sure to reprimand his brother on taking care of the limb so it would heal faster. Dean cursed and groaned the entire time, eagerly pulling away as soon as Sam was finished.

"Now tell me Sammy, did you sleep with her or not? Knowing you, you just had a friendly chat over tea or some…"

"Yes Dean, we slept together, happy now?"

Dean did seem happy, by the grin on his face. "Thatta boy, maybe now that you got laid you'll be tolerable to be around."

"If you tease me like this in front of everyone, I'm going to bring up your behavior while drunk," Sam threatened.

Dean's happy grin morphed back into a grimace. "I told you, that never happened. Let's go. Now."

* * *

Dean was relieved as Hell to get out of that community. Not that it freaked him out like Hades' place, but just the feeling of being surrounded by so many people that didn't know what he was had him on edge. He didn't like strangers and the act he had to play around them.

That damn potion really did help, and he found himself actually without a single worry in the world, that is, until it wore off and all his Hell memories and simmering demonic-anger came back.

He kind of welcomed it back though. He could manage it all just fine, and would rather be himself and alert instead of carefree and unable to fight or protect his brother.

The shit that he said while on that potion was nagging him relentlessly at the back of his mind. Did he really admit all of that to Sam? He couldn't believe he had acted so weak in front of his brother. After being so vulnerable and pathetic, how come Sam wasn't looking at him any differently?

"Hey," Sam said suddenly, distracting Dean from his thoughts.

Dean took his eyes off the road for a moment, glancing at his brother. "What?"

"I think we're almost there," Sam replied, referring to the forest they would spend the night in. "Feels good to finally be in Wyoming, doesn't it?"

Sam had been trying to get him to talk for the entire drive, but not about the potion like Dean had assumed. He was finding it harder and harder to be grouchy at his little brother like he wanted to. Sam had taken advantage of the potion's effects by asking Dean questions he'd never answer otherwise. But honestly, wouldn't Dean have done the same thing in Sam's position?

And it wasn't like Sam had been treating Dean any different after learning about the stuff he had admitted. He had assumed that Sam and the others would have been acting like they wanted the carefree and 'nicer' Dean back, but the only thing people had been doing were teasing him here and there.

There was really no reason to be holding a grudge about this. Time to let it go.

"How much longer does it look like?" Dean asked, smirking at Sam's happy smile in response to hearing him respond.

"Glad you're finally talking to me," Sam quipped, looking down at the map in full-out geek mode. "We should probably enter the forest in about ten minutes. He looked back up at the barren landscape in front of them and pointed. "I think I can see the trees in the distance.

Dean nodded, seeing the same thing as Sam. "Didn't realize how freaking empty Wyoming is. And I thought the trip from the Missouri river to Tamara's forest was empty? This is ten times worse, I can't remember the last time we've seen anything more than a stray dilapidated house. Be nice to finally see some damn trees."

"Well, it _is_ the least populated state."

"I know that, idiot. Probably why we hardly had any hunts here. Who would want to live here? This place is ugly as hell."

"You won't be saying that when you see the ranch," Sam chuckled. "From what Heather described, it sounds beautiful."

"Really? Because I'm starting to be convinced Heather lied to us and we're gonna be living in some hideous desert."

"Just because the east side of the state is so barren, doesn't mean the whole state is. Once we get into the mountains, the scenery is going to completely change."

"Well hopefully a state that was nearly empty before the Croatpocaylpse will be a safe place to stay now. Don't want to deal with any of that crap that went down in the Sioux Falls area again."

As they continued to drive, Dean gladly welcomed the trees that started appearing along the sides of the road. They were so close now he could practically taste it. Just one more night of camping and then hopefully they would have a new home.

"Okay, okay...keep going...I can't really tell on the map but it looks like there may be multiple small roads that will veer off of this one and go into the woods," Sam informed him.

"So pull off at the first one I see?"

"Let's do second, just incase someone had the same idea."

Sam ended up changing his mind as they drove through the forest, saying that the first two roads were too close and he wanted something that was a bit deeper within the woods.

After Sam finally settled on a road, they veered off a few other times onto even smaller paths, before finally coming to a stop at a rather large cabin that sat along a river.

"I will check if it is occupied," Castiel finally spoke after four hours of silence in the car. Before the brothers could turn around to talk to him, he was already out of the backseat and walking toward the cabin.

"And I thought you were awkward," Sadie mumbled, still half asleep, referring to Dean. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to how weird this guy is."

Dean huffed. "You and me both."

A few minutes later, Castiel returned with the all clear. Everyone began getting out of the car and unpacking the things they would need for the night. Dean was busy stretching when Aiden ran up to him.

"Dean, Dean, is this where we're gonna stay for our new home?"

Dean sighed. "Does this look like a ranch to you?"

Aiden only shrugged. "I don't know what a ranch looks like. I don't even know what it is!"

Well, that was a good point. It wasn't like any kids were going to understand what a ranch was.

"No. We're just staying here for the night and tomorrow we'll probably get to the ranch."

The young boy squinted his face in confusion. Just great. "Night? But it's not even dark out." He pointed to the sky.

Dean mocked the kid's stance. "Yeah, but what do those look like genius? Storm clouds. I don't care if it's only 3 in the afternoon. We're so close and we gotta take our time now to make sure we don't lose any more cars in a storm."

"Or people," Sam chimed in, shaking his head at Dean in exasperation. "We want to make sure we all stay safe, Aiden. The storm could be dangerous and it's best to stop somewhere until the weather gets better to drive."

"Like that one time the sky got really dark at the hotel and we all had to stop swimming outside!"

"Exactly." Sam smiled. "Now how about we go check out the cabin and see how many rooms it has? It looks really big, doesn't it?"

"Yeah!" Aiden cheered in excitement. But he didn't make a move to run to the house, instead he stared up at Dean and raised his arms.

"What? I'm not hugging you."

"No! A piggyback ride. Please Dean? Bobby said you would do them now because he's old and I'll break his back."

Dean huffed, annoyed. Stupid Bobby, of course he'd be in on this. Dean would have to get him back somehow. "Fine, but only for five minutes."

The shit-eating grin Sam had on his face while Dean carried Aiden on his back almost made it worth it.

* * *

"Get inside the damn house!"

"But Dean, there's not enough bedrooms for all of us, we can sleep in here."

"Fine Carl, want to be stuck out here in the RV during a huge storm instead of being safe in that big cabin with everyone else? Then be my damn guest. See you tomorrow...if you're even alive."

Dean shut the RV door in Carl's face and started walking back to the cabin through the howling wind. Not even ten seconds later, Carl's voice was heard yelling.

"Dean, wait! We're coming!"

Smirking to himself, Dean called out to the man without turning around. "Aww damn, I was hoping that would be a few less whiny humans for me to put up with."

"You know, if I do die, I'd just haunt your ass 24/7 and make your life a living hell," Carl called out as he caught up to Dean.

"Ugh, that would be worse than actual Hell. I take that back, never die please."

Sam was waiting for them by the front door. Once they were all safely inside, the younger brother put down the final salt line at the base of the front door.

"We're all safer in here, we can make sleeping arrangements work just fine."

Carl looked at Sam and shrugged. "I'm sure we'd still be safe in the RV. And I was concerned about our cars. What if someone comes by and tries to steal them during the storm?"

That caused Dean to burst out laughing. "Seriously? We're in the most deserted state, in a forest, down a dirt road that led off of several other roads and in an isolated cabin. I think we're fine."

"And your lives are more important than some cars," Sam told Carl earnestly.

Dean rolled his eyes, using the opportunity of Sam being distracted to slip away. His brother probably would assign him to do some stupid ass job like sort through their food. Dean had other ideas planned, like snooping around and raiding this house.

He heard kids running around upstairs so he decided to wander down into the basement. He had only made it to the foot of the stairs when he heard someone following him. Glancing up, he saw Jo walking down the stairs and rolled his eyes at her.

"Thought I'd join you, nothing more exciting than looking through a creepy basement." There was a sparkle in her eyes that showed that she actually meant her words. No wonder Ellen had always been so worried about her, she seemed to love danger, like Dean himself.

Dean concentrated in on his powers and filled the room with light. He couldn't help but smirk when he saw the layout of the basement. "Doesn't look like you're gonna get your creepy basement fix this time, sorry."

The basement was completely finished, with a large living area containing a few couches and recliners, as well as a giant flat screen TV. Dean admired the fireplace on the other end of the room with a few lounge chairs and grinned at the dart board. There were a few other rooms, and when he opened the doors, he discovered a full bath/laundry room and a bedroom with two twin beds.

That made five bedrooms in the entire house, joining the master bedroom on the main floor and three bedrooms upstairs. Someone must have used this house as a place to get the entire family together, siblings with their children, as well as grandparents and maybe aunts and uncles.

Along with the couches and recliners, they would have no problem finding everyone a place to sleep.

"Hey, Dean, check this out." Jo pointed at what looked to be some kind of display case. As Dean got closer, he saw the contents inside and couldn't help but let out an exclamation of excitement.

"Hell yes! This is exactly what we needed!" It was also what Tamara wouldn't give them, not that Dean could blame her, he wouldn't part with any of these babies himself.

The case was used to display three different kinds hunting rifles and a crossbow. Obviously, some of the people that stayed here were into hunting, Dean hadn't failed to note the deer heads that were mounted on various walls.

Jo seemed just as excited, if not more so, than Dean. She had a grin on her face a mile wide and Dean remembered being whacked in the face and then having the barrel of a hunting rifle pointed straight at his chest on the first day he met her.

"We gotta get these out, you got a safety pin on you?" Dean really should remember to carry them on him at all times, like Sam, he'd just gotten lazy in thinking they probably wouldn't be of much use anymore.

"Can't you just bust it open?"

"Oh sure, I'll smash the glass and leave you to clean up the shards and all my blood, doesn't that sound fun?" Dean snatched away the paper clip she dramatically handed over to him. "No harm in taking 30 more seconds to get the door open, not like we got anything better to do. Unless…" He wagged his eyebrows at her.

"Not now, shut up and unlock the cabinet."

"Not _now_? Does that mean…"

"I don't know, maybe it means something or maybe I'm just stringing you along to mess with you. Guess you'll have to wait and see."

"Ooh, sassy, I like it." Dean winked at her for good measure and then got set back at his task. Within the next minute, he had the cabinet unlocked.

After digging through some drawers in the cabinet, Dean discovered that there was a good collection of bullets saved. This would last them a while. They could use these rifles not only for hunting, but to guard the perimeter of their new home.

"Dean, hey…" Sam came walking down the stairs and paused when he saw what his brother and Jo were looking at. "Are those rifles?"

"Hell yeah, take a look." Dean watched as Sam admired the weapons. "Find anything good up there?"

"We were able to scavenge some food and found a few more flashlights, a lot of clothes, some toiletries and candles." Sam inspected the gun more closely. "But these are a _really_ awesome find."

"Actually, _I_ found them," Jo snarked back.

"Good for you, now scram." Dean started to push her away with his powers when the room was suddenly filled with an intense smell of sulfur.

"Dean…" Sam started, pulling on his brother's good arm in the familiar motion he did when he was nervous.

"That's not you, is it?" Jo asked Dean, reaching for her pistol as her eyes scanned the basement wildly.

"There's a reverse summoning going on," Dean answered, remembering the time he and Sam were in the house in Sioux Falls when Crowley had used the ritual to reach him. The whole room had smelled of sulfur then too, a familiar scent when demons were teleporting. The further the distance, the stronger the scent. "Sam, get ready, let's get in that bedroom now. Don't need any other people freaking out when Crowley shows up."

"You sure it's him?"

"Who else knows about it? Besides, when Bobby looked it up he said the force of it is so intense that it would literally cause humans or lesser demons to implode when they try it. He's the only one strong enough to be able to do it." Dean pointed at Jo. "You guard the stairs so no one else comes down here."

Jo shook her head. "Uh-uh. I'm watching this myself. The more people that are in this room with that demon to make sure he doesn't try anything, the better."

Not having the time to argue with her, Dean let her come in the bedroom with them. The next thirty seconds were filled with anxiety as Dean could feel his brother readying his powers and Jo aimed her pistol that she kept filled with iron bullets at the center of the room.

"Hello boys...and well, what do we have here?"

Dean turned to see Crowley sitting in a reading chair near the small bookshelf in the room. He was staring at Jo in interest.

"Tell us what you want to say and get the hell out," Dean ordered, feeling a small flicker of fear when Crowley turned his cold, murderous look his way. Maybe he shouldn't be so bossy with the King of Hell…

But then, Crowley's expression changed to one of resignation, and Dean could feel that Sam had unleashed his powers on the demon, locking him in place. Crowley knew that with Sam's powers, he was no longer the one in full control here.

"I came to discuss our little friend, Eve."

"Yeah, I know. You want us to kill her. Two problems. We don't know where the Hell she is and we have no clue _what_ kills her!"

"Get your angel groupie to help."

Dean shook his head. "Eve predates angels. Cas only heard about her in stories and doesn't have a clue either. I'm not running into something blind and getting us all killed!"

"She's killing off all my demons!" Crowley bellowed, the anger and fear in his voice causing Dean to shut up. "I know you don't care, because you're hardly a demon at all, but these are my minions, if I don't have any demons, then tell me, what the hell am I King of?"

"She's killing off demons?" Sam questioned, still keeping his arm outstretched toward Crowley. Even though she had already seen Sam's powers in action, Jo seemed in awe of them, but still kept her gun pointed at the demon as well. "Like the demons that were taking over the big cities? We just heard that the demons in Bismark were either all dead or fled."

"I don't care about Bismark," Crowley barked. "Most of the demons that took over cities were Alastair's followers anyway and I would have ordered my troops to kill them. That demon-killing Croat mutation is killing off _my_ soldiers! The other day, a Croat was summoned to Hell and began infecting an entire faction!"

Dean raised an eyebrow. "Demons aren't in human bodies in Hell, they're just souls, how can a Croat…"

"It can. It bites and infects the demonic souls. Maybe because it's a demonic virus? I don't bloody know! And then, when the demons finally cornered it, the damn thing exploded and sent the virus into the entire layer of Hell! We had to seal it off!"

"It...exploded?" Jo asked, never lowering her gun. She quickly glanced at Sam and Dean without moving her head. "Didn't we kill some demon-infecting Croats at that library?"

Now that Dean thought of it, he wasn't quite sure. Wait...Castiel had, hadn't he? "The angel did, I think. I don't remember them exploding, but I wasn't quite with it at the time."

Sam shook his head. "I don't remember that happening either. What happens to the human soul that was inside?"

"The mutation doesn't make them explode, you morons! I thinks she plants some kind of ticking time bomb in a few of them and then sends them to hell! Apparently when the virus is airborne, it's able to infect all the demons who don't have human bodies to defend against it." Crowley shook his head at Sam. "You're worried about the puny souls inside? Guess what, they obliterate when the Croat explodes!"

"It was created in Hell, guess it makes sense that it would spread easiest there." Dean shrugged. "And why should I care about this? Let it destroy Hell and all the damn demons there! I _want_ it to!"

Crowley's anger seemed to be rising with every passing minute. "I don't care what you think about Hell! Unlike you, I'm a _real_ demon and I am Hell's king! I will not let my Kingdom be destroyed by these abominations! Believe it or not, we all _need_ Hell. There needs to be a balance of good and evil , it's the way the world..."

The door opened suddenly, as Allen entered the room. "Who the hell is yelling…" he trailed off when he noticed Crowley, his face losing its color.

"Ooh another miserable little human, what a surprise. And what's this?" Crowley was staring at Allen's missing hand. "A liability more than humans already are, I can take care of him for you…"

Dean stepped in front of Allen as Sam tightened his powers on Crowley. "No one's killing anyone, Crowley," Dean growled.

"Going to let that one drag you down?"

"I'll take my chances."

Crowley shook his head. "Very well then. Honestly, Dean, I didn't expect you to get _this_ soft. Using some humans as you make your travels? Sure, but I assumed you would use them as bait when the going gets rough, not protect them. I can tell he was possessed by you, and that stump was healed on your doing."

"Yeah, so?"

"You're not the first new, fresh demon to escape, you know. There have been others with humanity still in tact. But none of them were able to handle it for long. They all ended up giving in, either returning to Hell or gladly destroying their last shreds of their human self. You on the other hand...you're _gaining_ some back."

Dean huffed, feeling both irritated and embarrassed. "Please inform me why the hell you're telling me this shit."

"Because," Crowley's voice got eerily low, the evilness in his tone almost caused Dean to take a step back. Almost. "I don't need these new feelings of yours to get in the way of getting things done. I don't care if you want to emotionally be some demon-human hybrid, but these decisions you are making need to not ruin our mission of destroying Eve.

"They won't." Dean couldn't help but roll his eyes. "More people, more minds and bodies to fight against her, so fuck off. We already destroyed one of her more powerful minions. She had Hades working for her discover new mutations and force pregnancies on women to create young monsters to turn."

"From the sound of it, Hades wasn't the only one working for her," Sam stepped in and Dean was grateful to have Crowley's glare off of him. "There are other powerful beings that she probably has in other small towns across America...or the world."

"Aha," Crowley nodded, his rage seeming to die down somewhat. "Finally some useful information from you two buffoons. I can use this and send my soldiers out to search and destroy these towns. With that taken care of, I expect you two to come up with a discovery on how to kill this bitch."

"Fine, we'll do it, now go."

"As soon as your moose of a brother lets go of me, I'll gladly get away from your sad excuse of a group. Just remember, Dean, your brother can't always be by your side to protect you. If you fail to look into this Eve matter, I will eventually find you when he's not around and you _will_ suffer. So if you want to stay with your brother, take care of this pest."

Knowing that Crowley was right, Dean didn't bother with any sarcastic comeback."We'll stop her, alright?" He addressed Crowley. "We'll get it done."

Noticing that Sam was about to make an angry retort at Crowley, Dean shook his head. _Don't bother, just drop it. Let go of him and he'll leave._

Dean felt Sam let go of Crowley, and in an instant, the chair he had been occupying was empty.

* * *

"Son of a bitch," Dean muttered, running a hand through his hair. He had just finished informing everyone about Crowley's visit and what he had told them.

They were all sitting in the main room of the basement as the storm began to pound down onto the earth with an incredible force. The sound of hail pelting the house was the only sound to be heard other than Dean's ragged breathing.

"Calm down, son." Bobby reached out a hand toward Dean but the demon shrugged it away.

"You don't get it! He's never going to leave me alone! I'm sick of him just being able to appear! I'm just…" Dean sighed. "I'm just so tired of it. I don't want anything to do with Hell or demons, just leave me the hell alone."

"Dean," Sam reached over to put a hand on his shoulder and this time, Dean didn't deny the contact. He looked down at his hands to see that they were shaking, just great. "He's not going to do anything to you, I won't let him."

"I'm not worried about me, I'm worried about you!"

"Again, I can easily stop him, don't worry. It's all empty threats anyway. He needs us, he knows it."

"Remind me why we don't just kill this idiot again?" Sadie asked, folding her arms.

"Oh I'd love to," Dean seethed. "But we can't, he's an evil ass, but he's the best option for Hell's king. We don't need another Alastair. At least Crowley's a businessman at heart, not an extreme master torturer with an obsession with murder."

"I don't like that he can just pop in here at any time because he can be brought to Dean! Isn't the salt supposed to keep demons out?" Allen asked, still looking shaken up at his encounter with Crowley.

"See!" Dean pointed at Allen with a sneer. "I knew it! You guys are going to blame me for this shit and want me kept away in a shed or something!"

Allen's eyebrows rose up into his hairline. "Where did I say that? I'm not blaming you, you protected me in there. I'm just saying, isn't there something that can keep him away?"

"Salt lines keep normal demons out," Sam told Allen, noting that everyone in the group seemed to be worried about this as well if their expressions were anything to go by. "But Crowley is the King of Hell, something as simple as salt won't be able to keep him away. It's okay though, because once we find our home, we _are_ going to ward the entire place up with things much stronger than salt. He won't be able to get in."

Sam turned to face Dean directly just then, but the voice that Dean heard wasn't a physical one.

_He's just coming by and risking his own life because he needs us. He knows we want Eve gone too. Once she's gone, he won't even bother attempting to come around anymore, he's not stupid, he knows I have the ability to control him._

_I hope you're right Sammy. Because I can't handle being someone elses' bitch._

Dean watched as Sam's eyes took on a dewy appearance and he sighed. He needed to stop admitting his feelings like this, but really...it did help. Because despite what Dean tried to tell himself, he did have fears, and those fears were lessened when he shared them with his brother.

It felt good to actually ramble to Sam when he had been on that potion, embarrassing now that he was back to himself, but still nice all the less. If he could just get past that initial shame, he thought he should try that again. He knew Sam enjoyed their conversation and hadn't judged him…

Maybe it was time to finally let his brother in more.

"Don't you worry one bit Dean," Marcy cooed from the other side of the room. "We all have your back, that nasty demon isn't going to lay a finger on you!"

Everyone started nodding, causing Dean to roll his eyes. Leave it to Marcy…

"We'll help with finding a way to kill her!" Heather chimed in.

"That's right, we all will." Bobby dropped a few of his duffles on the ground in the middle of the circle the group formed. "We've got nothin' else better to do, so might as well start researching. I ain't got much with me right now, left a lot in the car. But it's no matter, let's get to it."

* * *

They spent the rest of the afternoon and evening looking through some of Bobby's old hunting books. The kids had retreated upstairs with Marcy, although Sam thought it was probably best for them all to stay in the basement. There were extremely strong winds, and even though Sam knew a tornado touching down in a forest was unlikely, it still felt safer underground.

Dean had been mostly silent throughout the day, burying himself in a book. But Sam could tell by the glassy look on his brother's black eyes, a look that Sam was sure only he could decipher because of his practice reading emotions through the inky color, that Dean probably wasn't as focused on the words as he seemed.

They all went to bed early, Sam and Dean taking the small basement bedroom with the twin beds. Even though there were a lot of people sleeping in the other room, it was nice to still have some privacy behind a closed door. He had hoped that Dean would want to talk about a few things with him, alone.

He just wanted his brother to feel better. If Dean could talk about how he was feeling openly, then Sam was sure that would help. The reason why Dean had gotten so pent up and felt like he was falling apart back at the hotel was because he felt like he couldn't talk to Sam.

But Dean had grown a lot since then, and Sam believed that he truly understood that in order to retain both of their sanities in this world, they needed to lean on each other.

After drinking one of his demon blood mixes and getting into bed, Sam was busy trying to figure out the best way to get Dean to talk when his brother ended up speaking first.

"Hey, Sammy?"

"Yeah?"

"Give me that extra pillow."

Sam huffed and threw the pillow at his brother's face. Of course Dean hadn't been wanting to talk. Why did he even expect that?

He sighed quietly, turning in his bed to face away from Dean.

"Hail's comin' down pretty bad out there."

Sam turned around, eyeing Dean suspiciously. Dean was staring straight ahead at the basement ceiling. "Yeah...it is."

"I bet all the cars are dented the hell up." Dean grinned. "Good thing I parked Baby in the garage."

"Of course you would. You better hope none of the other cars got damaged too badly or we're going to have to fit more people in the Impala."

Dean's grin turned into a scowl. "At least we only have one day left of travel." Suddenly, he flipped on the bed, facing Sam. He looked excited. "Dude, can you believe it? We're almost there."

Well, if Dean wasn't going to talk about his feelings, at least he was chatting to Sam. That was progress. Dean had said under the potion that he missed hanging out with Sam. Maybe these nightly conversations would become a regular thing? It would be nice to have a chance to just be _brothers_ more often. "I know, I can't wait to finally get off the road. But navigating the mountains tomorrow should be interesting...I hope it doesn't take too long…"

Dean ignored his musing. "I'm actually gonna miss travelling around and finding random places to hole up in."

The younger brother raised an eyebrow at the demon. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, it's fun and exciting. Never knowing what you're going to find in the new house, seeing how other people used to live and getting to take over their old digs for the day. We always had to settle at crappy motels, now we get to stay wherever the hell we want."

"Yeah, but we'll still be doing that when we have to go on supply runs and stuff. We _need_ a secure home base. The ranch will be much nicer than those motels too."

"True." Dean was grinning. "This life is so much better than pre-Croatpocalypse."

"What? You like this better than before?" Sam was dumbfounded. Sure, Dean had fun stealing things from empty homes and killing Croats, but to enjoy it better than the world before?

"Way better. Come on Sammy, this is way more fun. It's one never-ending adventure. More action, less annoying people, hardly any noise...and here's something you will like, no more pollution and the Earth will take back its land. What's not to love?"

"How about the convenience of things? Getting food whenever you want? What about your pie, huh? Being able to be easily entertained by movies and not having to fear for your life when you travel?" Sam challenged his brother, although he did see Dean's points.

It was understandable why Dean liked those things, being a demon, but Sam could see himself enjoying the new world too. It would just take some getting used to.

"Well, yeah. The not-being-able-to-grab-a-pie-whenever-you-want thing sucks. But we can still make some. And having to work for your food is kinda fun, makes it more rewarding…don't tell Marcy I said that. And we can watch old movies until we've watched every single one ever made." Sam was afraid Dean's grin would break his face, he really _did_ love this new world. "We can make our own activities and shit. Play some sports. The world isn't nearly as dangerous either when you have a bad-ass demon travelling with you."

Sam huffed, yet smiled all the same. "I have to say Dean, you actually have me coming over to your side in this matter. You win this time, but I'll deny it if you ever bring it up again."

Dean chuckled before he suddenly grew serious. "This is still _my_ home, no matter how many years I spent in Hell. And I'm not gonna let Crowley or anyone else take me away from it. You know how I knew that Hell never became my home?"

Intrigued, Sam tried not to show just how curious he was and instead went with a slight shrug. "How?"

"Did I tell you how they try and give all the demons hideous demon-y names once you turn?"

"Ruby mentioned it while you were trapped with Alastair. She said very few demons keep their human name. Most have their name changed and some get demon-sounding names."

"Don't mention that bitch's name to me. Yeah, it's part of their process to help the demon forget their human self. And the few demons that want to keep their original human names are basically tortured and shunned until they give in."

"They tortured you for it? Dean…"

"Hey, I'd rather be tortured than change who I am." _Change that I was your brother_ , Dean added in through the telepathy and Sam wasn't even sure he was aware of it. "I never once even thought of changing it. They even wanted to give me one of their highly reserved demonic names...well Alastair wanted to, despite the other demons' protests."

"He really wanted you on his side," Sam pointed out.

"Of course he did. I'm awesome and bad-ass, who wouldn't? But I guess that was supposed to try and win me over, but it just made me fight harder. That's how I knew I belonged up here still and not down there. I'm not gonna let Eve screw up our home. We're gonna win."

This seemed to be what Dean had wanted to say all along, and Sam was filled with relief that his brother was allowing him to hear some of his private thoughts without having to be influenced by a potion.

Dean had really handled the aftermath of revealing so many 'embarrassing' things a lot better than Sam could have ever hoped for. He had expected Dean to clam up and to shy away from any kind of situations where he would be emotionally vulnerable.

Boy, was he glad he was wrong.

"We _will_ win Dean," Sam told his brother, and in that moment, he had no doubt. He felt more confident than he had in years. And I'll be right there watching your back."

Dean sighed dramatically, waving a hand over his face. "Oh Sammy, I get all tingly when you talk to me like that."

Yeah, some things would never change.

* * *

Dean startled awake at the sound of a large crash, followed by several screams. Sam bolted upright next to him, and they both shared a look of confusion.

"What was that?" Sam asked, already getting out of bed.

The screams continued as Dean took the lead and got in front of Sam, opening the door to their room. "It sounded like it came from upstairs." He noticed that everyone else in the main room of the basement had awoken as well, fear written all over their faces. "Stay down here, me and Sam are going to check it out."

Dean didn't wait to see if they were going to listen. He took the stairs two at a time, Sam close behind. As he rounded up on the second set of stairs that would lead from the main floor onto the second floor, several people stood on the steps, seemingly frozen in fear.

"Move," Dean ordered them, pushing past when most of them remained still.

He wasn't sure what he had expected to find, but a large tree falling into the side of the roof wasn't it.

"What the hell?" Dean spoke mostly to himself, staring at the scene in front of him. The tree had collapsed onto the section of the roof that was over one of the bedrooms. Luckily, it seemed like only the top of the tree had hit the house and not the base of the trunk.

Kids were crying and several adults were running into the room. Dean continued staring blankly ahead of him, trying to piece together what had happened while Sam immediately rushed forward, gathering a few kids into his arms.

Hearing Aiden's voice, Dean finally snapped out of his oblivious state. This must have been one of the kids' bedrooms. Shit. Had Aiden gotten hit by the tree?

He glanced around at the commotion going on around him. Since he was much calmer than everyone else at the moment, he was able to notice that none of the kids that sat in the hallway seemed seriously injured. He walked down the length of the hall, surveying the state of every kid and adult he passed. They all seemed shaken up, and a few of the kids had scrapes from what must have been the branches, but everyone looked to be okay.

"Dean!" Aiden ran up to him, getting up from where he had sat near Emily, the girl that had almost gotten shot in the cornfield.

"Hey, you alright?" Dean asked, kneeling down and allowing the little boy to wrap his arms around him. His small body shook with tremors but he wasn't crying.

"I'm okay, just scared." Aiden pulled out of the hug and looked at Dean with pride in his eyes. "I helped Emily and John and Mikey crawl out from under the tree."

"Alright, that's good. Did the tree hit anyone?"

Aiden shook his head. "No, it kinda crashed where the dresser was, before our beds. But some of the branches scratched us." He showed Dean some bloody scrapes on his forearms. They didn't look deep, but they probably stung, especially for a kid.

"Oh come on, that's nothing. You're not gonna whine about that, are you?"

"No!" Aiden shook his head rapidly. "It doesn't even hurt and I didn't even cry! I'm gonna be tough like you."

"That's right, don't be a wuss." Dean looked over his shoulder to see that Sam had brought a few kids over to Marcy at the end of the hall. From what he could hear, it sounded like she was going to patch them up downstairs. He turned back to face Aiden. "Alright, take Emily and go over to Marcy, she'll bandage you guys up."

"Are you gonna come too?"

"Nah, I've got another job to do, but you gotta go do yours. The other kids might be scared so you have to be there to help them."

Aiden beamed, exactly what Dean had predicted. "Okay, I'll go help them!" He grabbed Emily's hand and the two ran over to Marcy.

Dean got up and made his way back over to the room that had been damaged. Carl was inside and shook his head when he saw Dean.

"I told them that everyone should stay in the basement during a storm like this," he sighed.

"Yeah, Sam said that too, and I thought he was right. Everyone else seemed to think the kids would be fine as long as some adults slept up here. They thought they'd hear if the winds were getting too bad and bring the kids down."

"Well that sure worked out well," Carl huffed sarcastically. "We can't take risks like this any more, it's better to be safer and paranoid."

"Hey, look who's talking. You're the one that wanted to stay in the damn RV!"

Carl blushed. "Yeah, I know. But I quickly understood that you and Sam were right. Anyway, I think we're still okay to stay here overnight if we all crowd into the basement. It doesn't look like the way the tree fell is going to cause any more structural damage, but it would still be better if we could move the tree to relieve pressure on the house."

"I can probably move the tree." Dean shrugged. "My powers are probably just strong enough to move something that heavy. Let's get Sam and go check it out outside."

They found Sam on the first floor, talking with Marcy and helping to patch up the kids.

"Sammy, get over here, we're gonna go out and take a look at the tree before I try and move it," Dean called out.

Sam hugged Marcy before he walked over and Dean could see that the woman had been crying. "What's that about?" he asked his younger brother.

"She's upset about making the decision to have the kids stay upstairs. I told her it wasn't her fault…"

"She should be upset," Dean interrupted him. "It is her fault. If she would have listened to what you said, the kids wouldn't have been in the room."

Shaking his head, Sam sighed. "Dean, the chances of this happening...she couldn't have known."

"Like me and Carl were just saying, better to be safe than sorry."

"Gotta admit, I'm on his side." Carl squeezed Sam's shoulder. "We have to be more careful. But we'll learn. Something like this won't happen again."

They all made their way outside, the rain immediately drenching their clothes. Hurrying over to the tree, the brothers waited nearby as Carl inspected it.

"I think the house should be fine if you move it. I was right that as of now, there's no major structural damage that would cause a collapse. But the continued pressure might result in it."

Thank goodness for having a former construction worker on your side.

"Alright, I'm on it. You two stand back." Dean readied his powers, but paused when Carl frowned and walked closer the the break in the fallen tree. "What's wrong?"

"The tree was struck by lightning. But...the angle at which it was hit...the tree should have fallen to the side, missing the house. Instead it fell forward."

"What does that mean?" Sam asked but Dean already had an idea, one that filled him with dread.

"I'll tell you what it means. I bet it was Crowley. He probably never really left the area, or he came back now that he knows where we are."

Sam frowned and sniffed the air. "It's hard to tell with the rain but it does smell faintly of sulfur around here. But why would he..." His eyes grew wide, he must have came to the same realization as Dean. "He knows he can't hurt me, but he _can_ hurt the kids...and anyone else. That must be why the tree landed so perfectly as to not seriously injure the kids, but scare them instead."

"He was making a point." Dean growled. "Showing that he could take anyone else out. He purposely didn't hurt the kids now, but he's saying he will if I don't work with him."

Shit, Dean had talked back to Crowley and ran his mouth, thinking that the King of Hell couldn't possibly do anything about it. He had to be more careful. Crowley understood him more than Dean thought. He had made it clear that he had noticed that Dean cared more about the community of people than a demon should. He knew that the oldest Winchester wanted to protect his newfound group.

It wouldn't hurt him like losing Sam would, not even close, but he would feel guilty and losing kids would probably stick with him. Just like Marcy, he had unintentionally put the kids in danger.

"Hey, we can talk about Crowley later." It was Carl that spoke to him. "Let's move the tree first."

Dean shook out of his thoughts and focused in on his powers. He found it easier than he anticipated to move the large tree so it fell back in the other direction. It still took quite a bit out of him, but didn't leave him completely drained.

"Dean!" Sam's voice sounded far away, and when Dean turned around, he saw his brother standing by their cars, his face was set in panic. "We have a problem."

Running over with Carl to join his brother, the three men stared into an open trunk of one of the cars.

"You open this?" Dean asked, even though he knew the answer.

"No." Sam shook his head. "I don't know how we missed this when we first ran out, but look." He pointed to several of the other cars. All but two had their trunks left wide open. "This couldn't have happened too long ago, it seems like they left in a hurry, maybe when the tree fell."

"But we emptied the trunks, didn't we?" Carl asked. "We took all our bags and backpacks inside."

"We did, but we left the gas containers inside." Sam looked at his brother in the eyes, devastation written across his face. "All the cars that were broken into...the containers are missing from them all."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Please let me know if you guys are still interested in this story and if you are enjoying, I just want to make sure there's people that are still reading. Also, let me know if there's anything you would like to see happen and I'll always keep it in mind.


	15. Chapter 15

"What the hell! How did they manage to get away with these without us knowing?" Dean ran a hand through his soaking-wet hair. "Damn it, Baby! They better not have gotten to her." He took off toward the garage.

Sam stared at one of the empty trunks in shock. Was it ever going to end? One bad thing after the next. He should have known that meeting Tamara's group wasn't going to be the start of good things to come. It had only been a slight break in their never-ending stream of bad luck.

But he couldn't let his brother in on those thoughts, or anyone else for that matter. They had to stay positive. Maybe the culprits hadn't gotten that far away…

"How would we even know?" Carl asked. "It was raining and hailing so much last night. And along with the wind, we would never hear someone breaking into the cars. They were probably really quiet too."

"We sent Cas out to hunt for food last night too." Sam shook his head. "We thought we were so safe, how stupid were we not to have someone on guard?"

Dean came walking back. "Instead of standing here and talking about how stupid we all are, how about we go after the assholes that took our gas from us!" Dean growled and Sam could literally see the rage building up inside of him. It took one peek into Dean's smoke-cloud form to see the way his soul was sparking with lightning and shifting uneasily.

"Hey, relax." Sam reached out and put a hand on his brother's shoulder, tightening his grip when Dean tried to shrug him off. "We'll go looking for them, but there's no reason to rush out without thinking of a plan. This is what got us in this situation in the first place, not thinking things through. Was the Impala broken into?"

"Baby's fine. There's two gas containers in there, but it's not enough. If you don't want to go after them right now, then tell us of your plan, oh smart one."

Sam ignored the jab that was directed at him. "First thing, we go in and tell the others what happened. Then we'll gather a few of us to go driving out to search. Come on, let's get inside."

They stepped inside to talk to everyone, explaining the situation. While they were talking, Castiel offered to go outside and see if he could spot any clues as to who or what may have taken the gas containers, and where they may have gone.

As they explained the problem, Sam noticed the color draining from people's' faces one at a time. He bet they were thinking the same exact thing he was: when would it end?

"What do we do?" Heather asked. "We won't have enough to get us to the ranch."

Dean opened his mouth to respond, when Castiel walked back into the house.

"I have determined that the gas containers were stolen by a human," he stated, staring ahead at the group.

"Are you sure it's not Crowley?" Allen spoke up.

"I am positive. The atmosphere around the tree was much different than around the cars. I sensed nothing supernatural near them."

"The...atmosphere?" Dean scoffed, his eyebrows rose closer to his hairline. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Even though I am cut off from heaven, I can sense much more than any human, or even demon, would be able to feel. It is difficult for a basic being to understand without experiencing it, but I have always had the ability to be aware of much more around me."

"Sure whatever," Dean grumbled. "Crowley wouldn't have stolen our shit anyway. He needs us to find a way to kill Eve and wouldn't slow down our progress."

"So...what do we do now?" Sadie stepped forward, her expression bleak.

"I have uncovered footprints in the dirt. They stopped, and then tire tracks became visible," Castiel explained. "I am to believe that someone parked the car in the forest, and went back and forth collecting the gasoline containers to and from the car. From what I was able to sense, it does not seem like the burglar left too long ago. The tree falling probably scared them off."

"We're gonna go after him," Dean stated. His voice was stern and left no room for argument. Sam could tell he was already feeling impatient and wanted to begin tracking down the culprits immediately. He didn't have a good feeling about that. While these people were humans, they had no idea what they were capable of. Sam thought their group needed to plan things out before jumping the gun and going out blind.

_Dean, hey, maybe we should wait until morning before just going out there and…_

_No, no more waiting. Whoever took this is only going to get further away the longer we wait. We're getting our shit back now._

_I'm just saying, we should be prepared._

_We'll have weapons._ Dean was adamant. _And they're just human, they won't stand a chance with me._

Sam didn't like the way those words sounded. It seemed like Dean was expecting a fight, maybe even ending with the culprits dead.  _Okay, but let's not go in ready to kill them. We don't know if they…_

_They stole from us, Sammy!_

_Yes, but maybe they'll give it back. They might not be murderers, they didn't even try to break into the house or take the cars. I know we have to kill in this world, but there has to be a line. People can do bad things and not need to pay for it by being killed._

_Alright, fine. But if they…_

"Uh, boys? You two forgetting we're all in the room too?" Sam looked up to see Bobby cocking an eyebrow at them and smirking.

Sam smiled. "Trust me, you're lucky to not have to hear us bicker and argue back and forth all the time." He moved his attention away from Bobby and focused on the group as a whole. "We're going to go after them. Castiel should come since he can help us track them, and it would be good to have two other people."

"Alright, who's gonna volunteer as tribute? We gotta get going, now." Dean folded his good arm over his bad one in a display of impatience.

As the group talked amongst each other in order to decide who should leave, Sam raised an eyebrow at his brother.  _Tribute, really?_  He decided to skip teasing Dean about the fact that he had used 'tribute' in the wrong context. Sam was shocked he had even read  _The Hunger Games_  books at all.  _Since when do you read teen lit?_

_You kidding me? Read it at Bobby's, stole it from some kid. A bunch of crazy kids murdering each other in creative ways because some sadistic new world laws? Death, battles, violence, what's not to love?_

Ahh, now Sam understood why it would be exciting to Dean. In that case, he could recommend a whole bunch of new books to Dean. If reading about make-believe violence made Dean happy, than Sam figured it was a good hobby for him to have.

_Yeah, all that seems right up your alley. Now let's hope we get some actual volunteers so we don't have to force someone out there with us._

_We'll be fine with just me and you and with Cas tracking._

_Better in numbers, Dean. We don't know how many people there might be._

_Alright, fine._

The brothers turned their focus back to their group. To Sam's surprise, instead of not getting any volunteers, it seemed there were so many that people were arguing over who would get to go.

Sam focused in on the loudest of the group. Jo and Ellen were bickering back and forth, both seemingly stuck in their ways and not willing to compromise. Jo suddenly turned to the brothers, her chin held high.

"I'm going."

"Joanna Beth, you better shut your mouth…"

Jo ignored her mother, walking over to Sam and Dean.

"Don't you dare think of taking another step!"

"I'm 26 years old, don't you think that's a little old to be playing the overprotective mother role?"

Ellen suddenly shifted her gaze from her daughter and over to the eldest Winchester. "Dean…"

While Sam stood there, confused as to why Ellen was suddenly thinking that Dean would side with her, his brother started shaking his head.

"Uh-uh, don't you get me involved in this."

"Tell her it's my job to be protective of her! Would you let Sam go on a mission without you?"

Oh. That was why Ellen was addressing Dean. Sam rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Ellen, Dean has issues letting me do things on my own -" Sam started to say.

"Hey!"

Sam ignored Dean's protest. "Or, he  _had_. He's getting better. I talked to him about this a few times. He realizes that he has to let me do my own thing and trust myself not to get hurt. That being said, he wouldn't let me go alone, but if I were with a group of experienced hunters, he'd trust me."

Sam knew it was probably a lie. Dean was learning to trust Sam doing some things on his own and letting him be in on the action more than he would allow even a few months ago. But allowing Sam to go off and track down a possibly not-so-friendly group of humans without him? Yeah, probably not.

"She's with us. We won't let her do anything stupid," Dean said.

"Then I'm going too," Ellen stated.

Sam shook his head. "We need at least two hunters back here if anything goes wrong. You need to stay with Bobby." Sam directed his attention away from Ellen, hoping it would stop her from continuing on the debate. "Since it's Jo that's coming, we might be good without bringing along someone else…"

"Can I go?"

Allen stepped forward and Sam's eyebrows rose in shock.

"What the hell! What good are you going to do?"

Well, Dean sure wasn't shy about expressing his feelings. In this case, Sam was actually glad, because he had been thinking the same thing. He just didn't want to say it in case he hurt Allen's feelings.

It seemed like Dean's comments did the job though, as Allen's shoulders slumped. "I don't know, I just want to help. I've still got one good hand." Allen raised his remaining hand in a weak wave. "I can carry the gas back, there's gotta be something. I just think it would be a good experience for me to have."

Dean shrugged. "Fine by me, just don't get in the way. Now come on, we wasted too much time already, we gotta hurry."

* * *

"They went left, turn here."

Dean followed Castiel's instructions, trusting the others to keep a lookout for anyone who might be hiding in the shadows.

According to the angel, the person - or people - had taken off toward the main road for a few miles and then re-entered the forest through another dirt road. They were on the dirt path now, trying to maneuver through the increasingly smaller rough roads that spiraled their way through the trees.

"How the hell can you even track them?" Dean asked, squinting through the dark night. His anger at the culprits had toned down temporarily as he concentrated on driving. The rain wasn't doing anything to help their situation. With no moonlight and no headlights being used in case they were to be spotted from a distance, the rough terrain was difficult to make out. He drove slowly. The last thing they needed was the car to crash into a tree or a hole in the road. At least he hadn't taken Baby...he would never risk driving her in these conditions…

"I have a keen sense of tracking built into my being. I am able to see in the dark and process finer details that your human minds are unable to..."

Dean groaned, tuning out Castiel's in-depth description of his abilities. Apparently, not only did he have a compass built into himself, but also a tracker and had night-vision. That was all he needed to know.

"How about you shut up and help us…"

_CRASH_

Dean slammed on the brakes as soon as he heard the noise. Thankfully, no one in the car had let out a scream, despite the fact that the sound probably scared them all shitless. Good thing Heather hadn't tagged along…

As soon as the car skidded to a halt, Sam was lowering down his window at an attempt to better see what had caused the noise.

"I can't see shit, what is it?" Dean asked, hoping that they hadn't been spotted already and this was the culprit's attempt to stop them in their tracks.

"It's just a branch," Sam said, pulling his head inside. His floppy wet hair was tousled all over the place, and in any other instance, Dean would have laughed. "It's a large one, looks like it snapped off that tree." He pointed to a tree to their right, not far ahead of them. "You can't see it because it's literally right in front of us, we missed it by less than a foot."

"Gotta love my sharp demonic reflexes." Dean smirked. "Now what? Can we go around it?"

"We could try, but there's a ditch on this end. Check your end."

Dean rolled down his own window, rain immediately blowing inside and splashing him on the face. He rubbed his eyes to clear his vision and squinted, seeing a ditch that was full of water. He sighed and rolled the window back up. "Yeah, over here too. I'd rather not risk us losing another car. So, into the dark stormy night?"

"Wait!" Allen yelled from the backseat, where he sat nestled between Jo and Cas. He blushed when everyone turned to stare at him. "I mean, shouldn't we make sure Crowley didn't make this branch fall like he did the tree?"

Dean rolled his eyes. Now the guy was going to be thinking Crowley stood around every corner. "He wouldn't do that this time. He made the tree fall on the house to scare me, but made sure it wouldn't slow down our journey. There's no reason he would be preventing us from getting our gas back."

"But still...he could be…"

"I will go out and check," Castiel stated. They watched as he placed a hand on the fallen branch, his face scrunched up in what Dean thought looked eerily close to constipation. After a moment, Castiel motioned for Dean to roll down the window. "I sense no demonic presence that would have caused this branch to fall. We should get going now in order to not waste any more time."

With that, they got out of the car and continued their search on foot. Dean hoped this wouldn't take too long, on top of being soaking wet, he was getting covered in mud. Everyone was bound to quickly get grumpy and discouraged in this kind of weather.

Castiel led them down a few paths, but if the look on the angel's face was anything to go by, he was starting to get lost.

When Castiel had them pause for the fourth time to 'survey the area', Dean couldn't help but let his mouth run. "What the hell is going on? I thought you were some expert tracker. You don't know where to go from here, do you?"

"It is becoming increasingly difficult with this weather…"

"At this rate, we're not even going to know how to get back to the car!"

"Dean," Sam tugged on his brother's jacket-sleeve roughly. "Leave him alone. He's trying his best, way more than we could ever do. How about we help out and look for any signs that someone has been here instead of letting Cas do it all?"

Dean rolled his eyes but complied. Better to distract himself by at least attempting to be useful. He walked along the left side of the dirt path, peering into the forest of trees. Maybe the people had taken off on foot and ditched the paths in order to make themselves harder to find? But the forest was huge; they'd be walking around blindly if they just took off through the trees…

"Dean, hey, look!" Sam called out to him from where he stood slightly further down the path. Dean had kept close to his brother while they searched, the others going a distance away and therefore, hadn't heard Sam's call.

"What is it?" Dean asked as he approached Sam.

"Look." Sam pointed into the trees and Dean followed his brother's guide. "There's something over…"

"It's a house." Dean grinned, smacking his brother on the shoulder. "You just found their hideaway, Sammy! No way we would have seen that if we kept following the path to the right,"

"Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. We don't even know if they are in that house."

"Oh come on, take a compliment and admit you were awesome this time."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know I'm awesome. So, how are we going to do this? Walk through the trees so we stay hidden and then keep watch over the house to see if anyone is there?"

"Sounds good enough to me, grab the others and let's go."

They gathered together and trekked through the muddy woods. Dean actually preferred it better compared to walking on the road. They had a lot more dense tree cover, which resulted in less rain coming down on them and made it easier to see.

It didn't take long before they closed in on the cabin. Everyone slowly spread out, trying to see as much as they could from their vantage point. They didn't want to get too close...yet.

 _You see a car?_  Dean asked his brother, knowing that the thief had one.

_No, but that doesn't mean that it's not around here somewhere. They could have parked it a little ways away to be safe. If this is where the person is, they're either not here or the car is hidden in the trees._

Dean walked a little closer, sighing when he felt Sam's powers tug on him in order to prevent him from walking further in that direction.

_Not yet, Dean. We can't get too close. There could be traps in the area._

Dean doubted the person...or people were that smart, but he listened to Sam anyway. He walked around the perimeter, squinting when he noticed something.

_Hey, Sammy, there's a shed over here, I bet the gas is probably in there._

Dean looked toward his brother, watching how Sam was keeping an eye on the windows of the cabin.  _Could be. It would be nice if it were that simple. Do you think we can easily get in there?_

 _I can just teleport! How about I…_ Dean trailed off when he saw Cas approaching them. "Find anything interesting?" he asked the angel.

"I have noticed signs of life. I have not seen anyone, but I spotted fresh garbage outside of the cabin, and a children's toy on the lawn. It does not seem weather-worn as it would have been if it had been outside since the Croat attacks began."

"Alright! Looks like we've got our people." Dean clapped once, happily. "We think the gas might be in the shed, I'm probably going to teleport inside and check."

Castiel nodded. "That would be wise. If you can easily snatch the gas containers without causing any noise, we can leave without confrontation."

"I say go for it." Sam nodded. Dean knew that Sam was easily agreeing to his plan because of the reasoning Cas brought up. If Dean did this, he would avoid having to deal with other people. If they got involved, well...there might just be some dead bodies as a result, and Sam would want to avoid that as much as possible.

But honestly, Dean was pretty bummed.

They told Jo and Allen about the plan, and the group kept a lookout over the shed for 5 minutes before they decided Dean was good to go.

Only...he found himself unable to teleport into the shed like he wanted. Frowning, he tried again, concentrating harder…

Dean fell on his butt, as if an invisible force shoved him down.

"Dude, what the heck?" Sam knelt down beside him.

"I don't know! That never happened before! It's like something was preventing me from teleporting."

"How about you try teleporting somewhere else?" Sam suggested.

Dean nodded and stood back up. He focused on the area right outside the shed…

A second later, he stood directly in front of it. Huh, that was odd. Deciding to pay the previous issue no attention for now, Dean went to open the shed door only to pull back as soon as he touched it. It felt like he had both been burned and pushed back at the same time. He recognized this sensation; there was some kind of anti-demon warding going on. Because of this, he wouldn't be able to break inside using his powers either.

Walking to the window, he tried peering inside. It was foggy and dirty, and he wasn't able to see past a few feet but he was able to see the cause to his teleportation problems.

The window ledge was salted, and more likely than not the door and other windows were too. No wonder he couldn't teleport inside, damn it!

With a huff, Dean teleported back to the group. "Damn shed is all salted up! We're not getting in there unless you guys break down the door and the salt line."

Sam shook his head in frustration. "They've probably had encounters with demons and somehow figured out about the salt. If we break down the door, they'll hear and could corner us."

"What about using a distraction to draw them out of the house?" Jo asked. "If someone distracts them, the rest of us can gather up the gas."

"Uhh guys…" Allen started to say, his voice quiet and strained.

"Shut up Allen," Dean shushed him, more interested in Jo's plan.

"You shut up and look!" Allen pointed toward the cabin, where a light was now on in the upstairs window.

At first, Dean couldn't see anything except the glow of the light. The group stared at the window in complete silence until a figure passing across the window caused a collective gasp. A few seconds later, the person returned, this time standing in front of the window.

Now they had a good chance to look at the occupant of the cabin. It was a woman, holding a young child. After a minute, a man came to join her. They seemed to be talking before he moved away.

_It's a family, Dean. I think we should go back._

Dean glanced around him, seeing that both Jo and Allen shared Sam's distressed look. "I know what you're all thinking. And we aren't turning back. I don't care if this is some happy little family, they  _are_  the ones that stole from us, right Cas?"

"Yes, I am nearly positive. This is where my tracking has led us."

"Then we're going in and getting our shit back. Doesn't matter who's in that house, they don't get away with theft."

Dean turned to face his brother, who looked resigned. Sam understood that Dean was right, but he was extremely conflicted.

"Okay, we won't turn back. But we're not going to hurt them. We'll talk to them."

"Yeah, I bet that will go over  _real_ well."

* * *

Dean stood on the porch of the cabin, knowing that there wasn't going to be a simple conversation with the guy that was sure to open the door while he had his wife and child hide upstairs.

That was why he was going to go with his own version of Jo's plan. Sure, he'd try to talk to the guy to distract him while the others attempted to break into the garage, but he knew talking wouldn't do the trick.

He had another plan to distract the man, one much more fun.

He knocked again, seeing shuffling through the window to his right. The window cracked open a bit, and the nozzle of a shotgun peeked through.

"Walk away now and I won't shoot!"

It was then that Dean saw the man's fatal mistake. When he had placed the gun on the windowsill, he had disrupted the salt line. Dean could now teleport right inside if he wanted. The guy was lucky Dean didn't want to rip his heart out, at least not yet.

"Hey man, just wanna talk. Looks like you stole something of mine. How about you give it back and I won't break your neck?"

Dean couldn't see the man's expression, but he heard him back away from the window. "If you have any weapons, put them down on the ground now!"

"You're the one with the shotgun in my face, buddy, not me."

The front door swung open, leaving a rickety screen door as the only thing between them. The man's shotgun was aimed at his face now as he searched Dean up and down.

"I have the advantage, you have no weapons and a broken arm. Who are you to threaten me?"

"I'm telling you, all you have to do is give it back and you don't have to worry about anything, you'll never see me again." Dean shrugged as if he could care less.

"Leave my porch, now."

Dean decided to sigh dramatically. "Shame that you had to steal from me, any last words?"

The man cocked his gun, but before he got a chance to shoot, Dean raised his hand, causing the shotgun to fly from the man's hand and land somewhere outside.

The color from the man's face drained, his mouth dropping open. "How...what…"

Dean flashed his eyes black. "Really should be careful when you aim guns off of salted windowsills," he tsked, shaking his head and teleporting inside, right behind the man.

Dean expected the guy to run to his family, or beg and plead that he would hand over the gas. Instead, the father ran through the front door, heading into the forest.

Uh, okay then. Dean's fun wasn't yet over for the night. Awesome.

_Guy went running Sammy, go look for the gas, I'm going after him._

_Dean, don't go overboard…_

Dean tuned his brother out and started calmly jogging into the forest. He pulled out his flashlight and swept the area as he ran, quickly noticing that the man had left an easy path to follow. Not only were there footprints, but snapped twigs and trampled bushes that made it clear he had came through the area.

Dean grinned to himself, whistling loud and long, in a sing-songy teasing manner. He noticed a flurry of activity to his right, the man jumping out from behind a tree to hide behind another.

Well, that was an easy find; there was no fun in that. He had to keep this going a little while longer.

Dean turned off the flashlight and purposely started walking away from where the man was hiding, whistling some more. He waited a few minutes before he picked up a stone and used his powers to loss it at a tree about 10 feet away from where the guy was hiding.

Dean heard him jump, and then the father was running again. He could hear the man's panicked and labored breathing. Smirking, Dean decided it was time for some teleportation.

He teleported directly in front of the man who was unable to skid to a halt before he ran into Dean. He fell onto the muddy forest floor in a heap.

"Boo." Dean grinned wickedly, full of glee, as the man looked up at him, pure fear in his eyes. He struggled to get up, slipping a few times, before running in the opposite direction.

Sammy would kill him if he saw this. Ah well, kid never knew how to have fun anyway.

As the man stumbled between the trees, Dean kept up his whistling. He slowly stalked the man, always staying far enough behind so that his prey thought he stood a chance. When the man would turn to look behind him, Dean would jump behind a tree so he was hidden from view. While Dean couldn't be seen, he would begin to whistle again, making his presence, but not location, known.

After several more minutes of watching the father grow more frantic and paranoid, Dean got bored. He decided to pull a Crowley-move and focused on the branch of a tree, causing it to fall down right in front of the man. He fell down to his knees with a yell, turning his head around to scan his surroundings.

Dean felt like he was on a high. He didn't want this game to end, not yet. He hid behind a tree so the man couldn't see him and began humming a tune. After a minute of not hearing the man get up, Dean peered over at him to see the guy hunched in on himself, mumbling and crying.

Damn it. Well, it was fun while it lasted.

Walking toward him, Dean was able to make out the words he was muttering over and over again.

"Please just kill me, please stop. I give up, please. Just don't touch my wife or kids; they didn't even know the gas was stolen."

With a dramatic sigh, Dean used his powers to lift the guy to his feet and tilted his head up so that he was forced to stare right into Dean's black eyes.

"Shut up. What's your name?" Dean asked.

The rain was finally starting to let up a bit, and Dean could make out the way the man blinked his teary eyes in response, mouth opening and closing a few times. "Wh...what?"

"I said, what's your name? I'm tired of referring to you in my head as 'idiot thief man'."

"It's...it's Mark...why…"

"Alright Mark," Dean interrupted him. "Give us back our gas containers and I'll quit messing with you."

Mark started shaking his head. "You...you aren't going to kill me?"

"Not unless you were gonna aim that shotgun at my brother."

"Brother? What? You're a demon, why were you chasing me? You were…"

"I wanted to watch you shit your pants in fear. It was fun. Also, shows you what you were messing with. Don't steal shit from people, you never know if one of them is going to be a demon." He let go of Mark and let him stumble on his feet. Dean almost expected the guy to start running, but he must have thought better of it this time.

After a few moments of staring each other down, Mark spoke up, his voice scratchy. "Why are you delaying it? Just kill me now, don't do it when I'm not expecting it."

"How many times do I have to say it? I'm not gonna kill you. But I do wanna know why you took off in the forest like a bat outta Hell instead of protecting your family."

"I...I assumed you'd follow me instead of checking the house. It would give them a chance to escape."

Dean rolled his eyes. "You're lucky the demon that spotted you was me and not another one. They'd have checked the house and gone after your innocent wife and kids first. And you do know that there's more than just me here? If my group were sick bastards, they'd have killed your family while you were tripping over everything in the forest."

Mark started shaking. "Oh my god...I didn't think...I knew I stole from a group of people but...I didn't put two and two together that one demon means there must be a whole group of them...oh my god…" he stared back toward the cabin in horror.

"Relax, they're fine. I'm the only demon in the group. Now I'm gonna let you walk back yourself if you promise to give us our shit back."

Mark still looked dumbstruck and confused, but he nodded, eyeing Dean warily. The guy probably didn't know what to think, one moment getting threatened and chased by a demon, and the next, chatting it up with him. Dean found it pretty hilarious.

Once back at the cabin, Mark gasped when he saw his wife and two kids sitting on the porch, safe and sound. Sam and Castiel were kneeling beside them, talking, while Allen and Jo were carrying containers of gas out of the house.

Mark ran to his family while Dean approached his own. "Heya Sammy."

Sam looked up at Dean, then immediately toward Mark. "He looks terrified! What did you do to him?"

"Taught him a lesson. Don't worry, didn't hurt him."

Sam frowned at the last sentence. "I know you wouldn't. But unintentionally giving him a heart attack isn't the best idea either."

"But it was fun." Dean grinned.

Sam rolled his eyes, letting the matter drop. "Castiel found the wife and kids inside, I talked to them and told them about the missing gas. The wife knew about the gas containers, said her husband told her that he found them, never mentioned stealing them from anyone. She was furious. They actually had the containers stored in the pantry in the kitchen."

"Alright good, wife's a smart lady."

Sam squinted at Dean, noticing something that made him angry. "Your eyes! I didn't even...Dean! You let him know you're a demon?"

"Like I said, a way to teach him a lesson."

Both brothers turned to look at the wife, who let out a shriek of horror upon seeing Dean's eyes. She stepped in front of her kids, shielding them.

"It's okay ma'am," Sam talked to her as calmly as possible. "This is Dean, my brother I told you about. He's a different demon; you don't have to worry. The most he likes to do is scare people."

The wife shook her head. "Get away!" She glared at her husband next. "Look what you did! Bringing a demon to the house! When will you learn not to mess with other people!"

"Ma'am, how did you learn to use salt to keep demons away?" Sam asked, keeping his voice calm.

"There were people, they called themselves hunters. They helped us, taught us what the black eyes monsters were and how to protect ourselves!" Sam noticed how she was pushing the kids slowly back toward the front door.

Sam offered her a smile. "We're hunters too. Even Dean, he has been his whole life, he hunts his own kind. You don't have to worry about us, we're the good guys."

The woman only shook her head, with a final push, her kids were in the house and she followed them in, slamming the door shut.

Castiel stood up. "I will talk to her." He shared a look with the brothers as he walked past. Dean understood what he was thinking. If the family was frightened of Dean and thought he was evil, all it took was them potentially teaming up with someone who was out to get them and their whole group would be in danger. If the family saw them as a threat that needed to be stopped, they could unknowingly give their location whereabouts away to a demon or one of Eve's monster minions.

"I should go grab the car," Jo said from where she stood with Allen near their collection of returned-gas. "We can't carry all this back. I'll risk driving in the ditch or attempt to drive over the branch."

Mark cleared his throat. "There's another dirt road that leads in. At one point there was a fork in the road. You probably went right, that's where it always floods. Drive back a bit, and go to the left once you reach the fork, it will take you around a lake but loop back here."

"That'll work, go do that," Dean told her, feeling Mark's eyes laser in on him as soon as he spoke.

Jo nodded, raising an eyebrow at Mark. She seemed to notice how he was staring at Dean and did not looking convinced at the man's directions, but left nonetheless. Dean admired her attitude, and well...he stared at her back as she retreated, taking the time to admire the way her jeans…

"I only stole because I was desperate. We've been here for months, raided the nearby towns, but the food has run out. The kids are starving, we have nowhere to go." Mark's voice interrupted Dean's thoughts. "I was scavenging for food when I saw your cars drive into the forest and made the decision to follow the tracks. I felt like I had no other choice. If we had gas, we could travel somewhere better and have a chance. I wouldn't have done it if it weren't for them, I had to protect them."

Dean didn't like Mark's tone, the way he was dramatizing his ordeals and begging, all while looking at Sam in a pathetic manner. And of course, Sam bought right into it. He looked over at Dean, full on puppy dog eyes that never failed to affect Dean. He didn't even have to say anything; Dean knew what he was asking.

"Two Sam, just two."

Sam waved at Allen and motioned for him to hand the containers over.

"Really Sam?" Allen's eyebrows rose to his forehead. "He stole from us."

"We can't let them die."

"Then he should have knocked on our door and asked instead of stealing."

"I get that, but he made a mistake. He was probably scared we'd shoot him on site. We can't let our compassion fade away."

"Then we can give him just one." Allen folded his arms.

"You guys better make up your mind before I say screw it." Dean growled. He watched how Sam and Allen had a stare down, before even Allen succumbed to the puppy dog eyes. Because of his one hand, he carried the two containers over to Mark one at a time, the husband quickly snatching them up and backing up toward the door. He stepped over the salt line into the cabin, where he quickly ran over to the window, fixing the line there.

"Something's up with that freak." Dean shook his head.

"Dean, he's just scared." Sam lamented. "You freaked him out."

"Well, it worked, didn't it?" Dean sighed. Before he could argue with his brother some more, the sounds of the wife wailing were heard from inside the cabin. "Looks like awkward angel isn't very good at comforting distressed wives."

"I should go in and talk to her," Sam said. "I had her trust before she knew you were a demon, I think I can get her to relax."

With Sam going into the cabin, it was just Dean and Allen outside.

Dean huffed a sigh. "This is stupid. We should just take our stuff back and leave as soon as Jo gets here. No damn reason to interact and comfort these thieves."

"Well I'm with you on that one." Allen was staring nervously at the field in front of the house, probably wishing that Jo would drive in right now. "I just want to be safe. And that means not trusting any new people in any way. We should just avoid everyone as much as possible."

Dean couldn't argue with that. It was what he had always wanted. He never liked being around people, but he had grown familiar with their group and no longer felt anxious around them. New people on the other hand, he wanted them to stay far away.

"I didn't even like being in that resort town we just stayed in," Allen said. "It made me uncomfortable not knowing who those people were and what their motives were. I know you knew their leader...no offense."

Dean made an exasperated noise. "You think I care if you express your doubt? I don't think she was gonna screw us over, but I don't totally trust her either, hardly know her. I just try and go with Sammy's best judgment, he's usually right with stuff like that."

"Yeah, I guess. But I do think he can be too trusting." At Dean's glare, Allen stuttered. "I mean...no offense...again… but sometimes Sam seems too nice for his own good. Not necessarily a bad thing."

"Oh, so you'll praise Sam but you constantly nagged and insulted me, I see."

Allen shrugged. "I always liked Sam. You on the other hand…"

Dean chuckled, he was pleasantly surprised that Allen finally could take a joke. He walked over to the window, trying to peer inside to see what was going on…

"Hey! What, Dean...no!"

Dean heard Allen's voice and felt a presence behind him. He spun around to see a blur of shapes and ducked down out of habit. He turned, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

Allen was attempting to wrestle with Mark, who held some kind of blade in his hands. Dean went to ready his powers, but Allen kneed Mark in the crotch, sending the man falling to the floor in pain. Allen ran over to grab the knife that had fallen from Mark's grasp and held it in the air, looking at Dean wildly.

"He was trying to stab you with this! There must be a back door he snuck out off!"

Dean walked over, touching the blade only to draw away in pain. It was iron. That damn bastard had tried to poison him!

Dean swiveled around just as Mark was getting to his feet. He didn't have a chance though, Dean charged at him, sending the man against the wall of the cabin, pinned there by Dean's weight and supernatural strength.

"You fucking bastard!" Dean yelled, slamming Mark's head against the wood of the cabin twice. "We give you some of our gas that you stole and you try and poison me?!"

Dean heard the sound of the cabin door fly open and Sam was at his side in an instant.

"Dean! What the hell? What are you…"

"He tried to stab Dean with an iron blade!" Allen waved the weapon so Sam could see. "I stopped him and then Dean…"

"You tried to stab my brother?" Sam turned to the man, and Dean could hear the fury in his voice. "He was letting you have some of our gas."

"You've got to be kidding!" the man screamed. "You're defending this thing? I know he has you all under some kind of spell or leash, but I was about to save you!" Mark glared at Allen. "Why would you stop me?"

Allen actually snickered. "Dean has us on a leash? What?"

"You want me to believe you're with him out of your own free will? This thing chased me through the woods, stalking me and trying to kill me! I saw how he was bossing all of you around, it's obvious you have to do as he says or he will kill you!"

"Dean wasn't trying to kill you," Sam said, and Dean could hear the anger in his brother's voice. "And he isn't forcing us to do anything. He's bossy sure, but more often than not, we ignore him." Sam smiled a little, probably to lighten the mood, although it didn't work.

Before anyone could speak next, the wife burst through the front door, followed by Castiel. She screamed once she saw her husband and went to run toward him, but Castiel grabbed her, stopping her in her tracks.

"Mark! Let go of him, you monster!"

Upon hearing that, Dean shoved Mark against the wall harder. "Oh I'll let go of him, once I break his neck!"

"Dean…," Sam warned, giving Dean a stern but understanding look. He turned to the wife. "Your husband tried to stab my brother with that knife." He pointed at the knife Allen held.

The woman's sight fell onto the knife, her face holding fearful recognition as she realized the knife was indeed her husband's. "Mark…" she whispered, her voice devastated.

"You couldn't just let them leave? Why! They gave us some gas...and you had to take everything away." She lowered her head to the ground, unable to look at her husband any longer, understanding the fate that was in store for him.

"You weren't risking your life to try and save us," Sam said, a thoughtful expression on his face. "You don't even know us. There was another reason you went to attack Dean, isn't there? What is it?"

"I'm not...I wasn't…"

At Mark's hesitation, Dean slammed the guy against the house again, feeling his rage build up. What was the point of waiting? He should snap this guy's neck right now…

"Okay, okay!" Mark panted, looking disoriented and scared. "I thought if I took the demon down, you'd all be so grateful and I could join your group, and that my family would have a chance to survive if we were with more people."

Oh, so the guy didn't want to 'save' everyone from the demon out of the goodness of his heart. He wanted the group to feel indebted to him so he could leach off of them to survive! Dean growled and pressed his good arm against Mark's throat, causing the man to cough and gag.

"But Dean is one of the main reasons we're still alive." Allen shook his head. "Trust me dude, I used to want him gone and he's not going anywhere. You made the wrong choice here."

"Yep, wrong choice buddy, should have walked away." Dean raised his hand, considering the ways he could end this man's life. Painful and slow? Or quick and painless?

_Dean, don't._

Of course Sam was going to try and talk him out of this. But there was no way Dean was going to take Sam's feelings into account on this one.

 _Nope, Sammy. This ungrateful bastard tried to poison me after I let him go and gave him some of our stuff. You want him to survive after what he tried to do to me?_ It bothered Dean that Sam was so dismissive about someone who had tried to get rid of him, no matter how futile his attempts might have been. If the situation had been reversed and someone had tried to poison Sam, Dean would make sure they were dead on the ground in a second.

_It's not about him. I hate what he tried to do to you. But to kill him would be killing his family. There's two little kids, they need both adults to survive. He's an ass, and he screwed us over twice, but he's not a threat to us. If we let him go, if you let him live, that will prove him wrong. Dean, it will show that he's wrong about you and make him look like even more of an idiot, wouldn't that be better?_

Sam's voice was a soothing presence in his current rage-filled mind. He focused in on his brother's words, finding the sense in them. Sam wasn't begging him, he was calmly stating facts, and it made Dean consider his options.  _Let him know how wrong he was so he can feel bad about it. How do you think he will feel, knowing that a demon had more respect for people than he did?_

Dean enjoyed watching assholes suffer, but Sam was right that there were different ways other than pain and death. Maybe letting him live would cause him enough emotional turmoil that it would be worth it.

And he couldn't just doom the rest of the family to die, especially the kids.

Dean shoved at Mark one more time, causing the man to slide to the floor as Dean stepped away.

His wife ran up to him, looking both relieved and angry at her husband. She hugged him and looked out at the group of them, avoiding eye contact with Dean.

"Next time you decide to steal from people, just know that you'll end up dead. You're actually lucky that it was me you stole from. If you do by chance run into other people like us who aren't assholes, don't piss them off. You're gonna need as many allies as you can get." Dean growled and turned around, walking back out to the field in front of the house. The rain had slowed enough that it was only sprinkling, and he figured as soon as they got back to their cabin, they'd be able to leave immediately.

It didn't take much longer for Jo to come back, but those few minutes were filled with awkward silence. The husband and wife remained on the ground, pressed against the wall of the cabin, as if afraid to move. As Allen, Jo and Cas began filling the trunk with the gas containers, Sam walked over to the married couple.

Dean frowned as he tracked his brother's movements. He was supposed to stand guard while the others filled the car, but he wasn't about to let Sammy go up to that couple alone. Who knew if the husband would try to attack him as well?

"...wouldn't have let you come along even if you hadn't attacked," Sam was saying. "We need to keep our own people safe right now before we let anyone else in. But there's a group of survivors in the Black Hills of South Dakota. They will take you in. They're good people, and I think you guys are too."

The husband looked up at Sam, his face unreadable. "You think we are going to take your advice? You have a demon in your group!" His face blanched when he saw Dean standing just a few steps back, but he continued on. "It's probably a trap."

Sam shook his head. "If we were bad people, we would have hurt you guys by now. We've done nothing but show you respect. If you choose not to go to the town, fine by me. Do whatever you want, but you stand a much better chance there."

"We have to at least try, we're dying here," the wife told Mark, and then turned toward Sam. "Thank you."

Sam nodded once and headed back toward Dean.

"What was that all about? You sure that's a smart idea? Sending thieves to Tamara?"

"I wouldn't want them to travel with us, but I don't think they deserve to die. The rest of the family shouldn't suffer because of Mark's stupid mistakes. They won't be any threat to Tamara's group." Sam paused for a moment. "Besides, they can exchange information on you and further prove that you're not a typical demon. It's another step closer to gaining an ally town."

Dean smiled proudly at Sam's new way of thinking. Sure, he wanted to help the family, but here he was, using people for ulterior motives, just like his big brother. Looked like he was finally adjusting to this new world and planning for their future.

Thatta boy.

* * *

They left as soon as the sun broke, putting the gas-stealing situation behind them. Dean had told Sam to sleep on what should be their final car ride before they got to the ranch. While they were both tired from the lack of sleep the night before, Dean could function much better than Sam before he became exhausted.

Sam fought the decision, but eventually the lull of the car and the feel of the wind on his face caused him to fall into a dreamless nap.

When he felt someone tugging at his arm, Sam jumped in his seat, waking up immediately and pulling out his gun. "What is it? What happened?"

Dean was sitting calmly beside him in the driver's seat. "Relax, spaz." He was grinning, a sight that Sam was relieved to see. "Even though it seems like an endless stream of bad luck is hitting us, not every time we stop is because we're in a life or death situation." Dean pointed outside. "We wanted to fill the cars and try and refill the containers before we get to the ranch."

Sam followed where Dean was pointing. He could see a cluster of buildings in the near distance. They already had a few empty containers, and if they refilled, there would be several more. Dean probably figured that a town was the best place to find cars that he could siphon from. If they were lucky, they might be able to refill all the containers right here.

"Okay," Sam nodded. He took out his binoculars and began taking in his surroundings. Upon only seeing two cars, he frowned and looked down at the map that had still been in his lap when he fell asleep. "Where are we? What's the town's name? "

"Uh...Pah...saka Tepy? I guess that's how you say it. Looks more like a resort than a town. We just entered the mountains like a half an hour ago."

Sam studied the map based on the general location Dean gave him and smiled. "It's Pahaska Tepee, Dean." He opened his door and glanced around at his surroundings. They were parked on the other side of the road, a safe distance away from the buildings but had a good overview of the area. "You're right, it does look like it was just a small resort town. There's only two cars."

"Yeah, but it should still give us enough gas to the point where we're comfortable if we get lost and have to backtrack."

Sam put the binoculars to his face again, this time noticing something troubling. "That red mini-van...it doesn't look as beat-up as the pickup."

Dean scrunched up his face. "So what? It's in better condition, I don't get why that's a problem."

"It looks like the pickup has been sitting there since the outbreak. But the minivan...it doesn't look as exposed to the elements. What if someone is here?"

Dean only shrugged. "This place it right off the freeway, no one would be stupid enough to live here. Besides, Cas is checking the place out for us."

That made Sam feel better. If anyone would be able to sense any signs of life, it would be Castiel. And the angel was the only member of their group who was completely safe from the many threats that could ambush them.

He glanced behind him to see Aiden and Emily curled against each other in the backseat, the empty spot having belonged to Castiel. After the tree had fallen, Emily and Aiden didn't seem to be able to leave each other's sides, some bond having been formed between the two young kids. Sadie had agreed that she would switch cars with Emily so the two could ride together. Sam had to admit, Aiden seemed a lot more content and less restless with a friend traveling with him.

When Sam glanced out the back window, the rest of the cars were parked behind them on the road. Some people were sitting on the roofs of their cars, others in the road, eating and laughing. The sun was shining brightly today, only a few clouds in the sky. Sam stuck his hand out the open window with a contented sigh. There was a nice breeze that was keeping the temperature mild with low humidity. It almost felt like it was September instead of mid-July. The day was perfect, almost as if they were meant to find the ranch today.

But good things didn't seem to happen in conjunction for them. The beautiful day would probably lead into more disappointment, like usual.

However, no one seemed overly concerned and Sam tried to follow their lead. There had to be a limit to the bad things that happened to them, right? The group seemed like they needed to relax after the whole Crowley/tree falling/gas stealing fiasco. It was important to get some time to be normal humans without worrying and preparing for a disaster to strike or else insanity and depression would sink in.

"Hey, eat." Dean tossed something his way. It was a packet of applesauce and a bag of stale peanut butter crackers. Dean himself was happily munching away on some long-expired poptarts.

"How long has Cas been gone?" Sam asked.

"Ten minutes. He'll be back soon, quit your worrying and eat."

Sam huffed, but forced himself to sit quiet as they waited. Maybe worrying was something that was built into him. No matter how much he tried to ignore it, the need to worry always wormed its way back, it was a part of his soul that he just couldn't turn off. But at least he could push it aside.

He and Dean were sharing a water bottle, passing it back and forth between each other when Castiel appeared on the road, walking back toward the vehicles.

"He's not running, that's a good sign," Dean said, stepping out of the car and motioning for Sam to do the same. "Come on."

Dean motioned for the others to stay back as the brothers approached Castiel.

"Alright, so the coast is clear?" Dean asked.

Castiel looked a bit perplexed. "There is nothing alive in the area. However, I think it is of utmost importance that you inspect what I have discovered."

The brothers both exchanged a glance, drawing their weapons.

"There is no need for weapons," Castiel shook his head. "Just follow me."

"Is it safe for the others to come too?" Sam questioned, he knew some of the others would want to help scavenge for any goods they could find.

"Yes, that is fine."

Sam waved over toward the group and about half followed them to the cabins, carrying the gas containers that needed to be filled. The rest stayed guarding the cars and keeping a lookout.

As soon as they got into the resort town, Castiel marched down the path leading to the cabins in the back. The brothers followed while the rest of the group searched inside the cabins. Sam knew Dean was just as curious as he was. Both of them had a hand hovering over their guns, just in case.

Castiel stopped behind one of the cabins, in a small field. He gestured over to a cluster of bushes and shrubbery. They didn't have to come much closer to see what it was.

There was a body in the bushes, and it definitely wasn't human.

"Will someone tell me what the fuck that is?" Dean was bent over the strange looking corpse, inspecting it with a disgusted look on his face.

Sam was sure his expression wasn't much different. The body that lay before them had scales up and down its torso, and legs that looked to be a cross between a horse and a dinosaur. The arms and hands were human, but the face contained eyes that were a silver color and an elongated mouth full of small, sharp teeth. He forced himself to look away and turned toward Castiel.

"Do you have any idea?

Castiel crouched down to examine the body further. He grabbed the torso and lifted it up to inspect it…

"Wait, Cas! Move the body away to the side! I see something under it," Sam pointed out.

Dean shook his head upon seeing what was under the monster. "Well, I'll be damned. You were right Sammy, there  _had_  been people here."

Castiel touched the corpses' foreheads. There were three of them, one man and two women.

"They seem to be dead for a few weeks," Castiel stated.

Something seemed off about that to Sam. "But...they don't seem to be decomposed that badly."

Castiel nodded. "My belief is that since the body of the creature was covering the humans, it slowed down the decomposition process. The insects and animals that would eat away at the bodies ignore the bodies of supernatural creatures because their genetic makeup is vastly different."

"Well that's all good and peachy." Dean was rolling his eyes. "Now can you tell us what the hell it is? I've never seen anything like that in a lifetime of hunting."

Castiel looked perplexed. "I have tried to identify the creature, but my internal data banks were not able to determine what it is. It has never existed before, so therefore, it is something new."

Dean shook his head, mumbling. " _Data banks_...talking like he's got a hard drive in there…"

"Something new?" Sam asked, ignoring Dean's comment, although in any other instance, he would have laughed. "Like that flying creature we saw?"

"Yes, that is what I am assuming. It is another creature created by Eve."

"What killed it?" Dean was kicking the body around, examining it. "I don't see any external injury."

"I was unable to find one either," Castiel told him. "From my conclusions, the monster attacked these people who had stopped here and then internally, something went fatally wrong."

"What would have caused that?" Dean asked.

"You could say that the cells of the dead monster underwent sudden mass apoptosis." Castiel stared at Dean blankly.

Dean opened and closed his mouth a few times. "Sudden autopsy  _what_?" His voice rose an octave in exasperation.

"I believe that these new creatures are being created quickly as test experiments, possibly to track us down, as the flying creature most likely was doing just that. Because they are new, their cells are unable to properly adjust to the change and their bodies fail. "

Sam turned to his brother, having heard enough. "Dean, do you think she's onto us?" Right now he needed some encouragement, and who better to give some than his big brother?

Dean stared down at the body for a long time, he was probably considering his answer. Finally, he shook his head and looked back at Sam. "I don't think so. Cas said this was at least two weeks ago that it died. She doesn't know we were headed west. I'd bet you money that she probably found Eliza's group and tortured them for information…"

"Dean…"

"Hey, just being honest. I didn't think they'd get far. But we told her group that we were going northeast, so I bet she's concentrating on searching that way."

Sam couldn't help but look back at the human bodies. "These poor people...probably just stopping to loot the area and grab some supplies when they were ambushed."

"Sucks for them, but lucky for us. Now we get their gas." With a grin, he turned around to head toward the couple of cars in the parking lot. "Let's hurry and get out of here Sammy. Too close to the road, don't want to end up like them."

* * *

It turned out that the people who had stopped at the resort town had left a few bags of supplies in the recreation cabin that they had been filling up. Not only that, but Dean had discovered more bags in the trunk of their minivan, as well as some half-full gas containers.

Dean had siphoned the minivan and found the pickup's gas tank empty; the minivan owner had probably taken care of that before their unfortunate demise.

Heather joined the brothers in the front seat of the Impala, sitting between the two of them on the bench seat. Since they were nearly at the ranch, Sam suggested she join them to help lead the way. It was kind of uncomfortable with the three of them in front, but they didn't have much further to go.

She hadn't shut up since getting in the car with them. Dean wasn't too happy. Sam wasn't really either. He decided to distract himself from her rambling stories.

"You guys find anything good in there?" Sam asked, turning around to face Aiden and Emily who had the task of 'sorting through the new bags they found'.

"There's lots of food!" Aiden exclaimed.

"And look!" Emily proudly displayed a hunting knife, holding it up in the air. "I'm gonna slice off Croats' heads like Dean someday!"

"So am I!" Aiden told her, pulling out a pistol. "Dean promised he'd teach me first!"

Oh god, maybe having the kids look through the bag wasn't a good idea. Luckily there was a cover on the knife, but still. "Cas, please take the bags and don't allow them to touch any weapons."

Castiel reached over to take away the gun and knife, earning a collective groan from both kids.

"We were being careful!" Aiden pouted.

That was the last thing it looked like. "I know, but you guys don't know how to use those, let Castiel take care of the weapons and he will give you guys the other stuff to look at, okay?"

Emily stuck her tongue out at Sam. "Dean's the cooler brother than you!"

"You forgetting who pulled you away from a firework, kid?" Dean called out to her. "I'd snatch those things away from you too and yell at you a lot worse than Sam did."

"Yeah, but you let me  _fly_!" Emily said in awe.

"And Sam saved your life from that guy in the cornfield, I'd be nicer to him. Sometimes, he's a lot cooler than me."

Sam turned to face Dean, something tightening in his chest at those words. Dean only rolled his eyes in response.

_You're not so bad yourself Sammy, they'll see._

Sam found he couldn't respond, not even in his mind. He turned to face out the window, a lump in his throat.

"Hey, we should take that down!" Heather suddenly called out. "Stop!"

Dean pulled the car to a sudden stop, the other vehicles behind them following suit. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"There's a sign! Right there!" Heather pointed across Sam, and sure enough, there was a weather-beaten sign indicating that 'Gros Ventre Junction'' was 20 miles away. "That's the road that will eventually lead to the ranch.

"How many of these are around here?" Dean asked, seeming concerned.

"Not many. My parents even got lost a few times coming here because they passed the road up. Even if someone does turn down it, it's at least another 30 minutes until the ranch  _and_  it changes to a narrow dirt road. But I still think we should take down the signs so less people are made aware of it."

Dean tilted his head to the side. "That's actually a damn good idea. After we finally get there, we should explore the towns and try and burn any pamphlets or any other mentions of the ranch we find. Whatta say Sammy?"

Finally finding his voice, Sam cleared his throat. "Sounds like a plan."

Dean made quick work of destroying the sign, and they only saw one more before finally turning down Gros Ventre Junction.

"Alright, final stretch, almost here." Dean announced, causing the kids to cheer and hug each other. Heather was bouncing in her seat more than both kids combined. Even Castiel had a different mood about him.

They passed an extremely small town almost immediately. It looked like it was abandoned since the beginning of the outbreak. Heather assured them that the population there hadn't even been a hundred people, and it was the only community they would pass on the road.

The road ran along a river, and as they drove further, they passed a lake. It was beautiful, but with a lake, came cabins.

"I doubt anyone is in those. This is so tucked away with a low population in the area already," Heather said. "There's also going to be a few more small ranches on our way in."

She was right, there was a few ranches and a campground. Again they seemed deserted and no one shot at them. There wasn't a sound outside except for the noise of all the cars' wheels on the asphalt.

That changed about ten minutes after they passed the lake. The road changed from asphalt to a dirt road.

"Now that's what I'm talking about," Dean said. "Nice and secluded. How much further down this way?"

"Maybe another 15 minutes, but probably longer. I was always viewing the scenery as we came here and I was so occupied that time seemed to fly by."

"Alright, good. Still, one of the first things we gotta do is check out those ranches, campgrounds and cabins that we passed on the way here. Gotta make sure they're empty and loot them. Maybe even burn them down."

Sam wasn't sure of the idea of burning down the buildings, but he kept silent. He just wanted to make sure their ranch was empty and still standing. Then they could worry about the rest.

The further they went, the fewer signs of any kind of civilization they came across. There was one more lake, this one smaller with no cabins surrounding it. A stray barn or house could be seen after they passed the small lake but mostly nothing but trees and fields surrounded them. With the mountains nestling them in from every side, it felt extremely safe.

After the fifteen minutes had passed, Sam began to doubt Heather had the right path. The dirt road was getting consistently more difficult to traverse and he worried how much further they'd be able to go.

"There! There it is!"

Heather pointed down into a valley. Before them lay a river, with cabins to the left and a forest to the right. Sam spotted a few bigger buildings and a pool. There didn't seem to be a person in sight.

Dean waved out his window for the others to stop and got out of the car, Sam followed and soon everyone was standing side-by-side, looking down into the valley.

They had made it. They were finally home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you thought of the chapter! :)


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long delay! I'm still here and still updating! I won't ever leave this series unfinished, and usually won't have this long of a break between updates. I have been really busy this summer with various things and haven't had that much time or desire to write. But this chapter is now finished and I'm excited to get to work on the next one.
> 
> Thanks again to Katie for helping me out with this chapter and to Gabi for betaing it!
> 
> I will try and get to get back to replying to all the reviews you guys leave! Sorry I've been slacking on all counts. But I hope you still enjoy this chapter :)

Dean stared out into the valley before him, almost not believing his own eyes. The buildings were still standing, and there were no Croats or people in sight. Was this really it? Did they finally have a safe place to call their own where they could start to rebuild?

"Let's GO!" Aiden squealed and began to run forward, several of the young kids following him.

"Uh-uh, nope!" Dean pulled all the kids back with his powers. "You can run and scream down there all you want once we know the area is safe and empty. Hold your horses."

"Dean is right." Castiel spoke up. "I will go down and investigate from a distance. If the area seems clear, I will enter and scale every inch of the perimeter for signs of danger."

Well, that was easy. Castiel should just be their official guard and investigator from now on.

They waited with baited breath for the next fifteen minutes. No one said much of anything and Dean busied himself with going through their belongings to sort through the things they had gathered. After a few moments, Sam joined him. The anxiety radiating from Sam was probably worse than Dean's himself. They both knew that despite their initial joy at reaching their destination, it could all fall to pieces if Castiel ran into any people, or sensed anything dangerous.

When Castiel finally returned, Dean rushed over to hear what he had to say, pushing people out of the way in his haste. Someone jabbed him in the back in retaliation for his lack of manners. Probably Carl, but Dean didn't care to have his usual bicker-fest with the man right now.

"Okay, so? What's the verdict?"

To Dean's surprise, Castiel seemed irritated with him. "It would make sense to give me a chance to speak before demanding answers from me." Dean could hear a few people chuckling, including Sam, before Castiel continued. "There are no living creatures on the ranch, be it human or monster. I also did not sense any Croats. There is evidence of habitation, but of course, that is to be expected. I assume any people who lived or worked here left not long after the virus started."

"Are you sure?" Sam asked.

"I am positive. Everything is coated in dust, no one has stepped foot on this ranch in quite some time."

"Well? What are we waiting for?" Dean glanced at the group and raised his hand in the air. "Let's get our cars down there and start exploring!"

* * *

They drove down, parking the cars in the vast field and sprinted toward the cabins.

"Do you think there's enough room in these cabins for all of us?" Sam asked, must have taken into consideration that there were only 11 cabins. Dean had noticed this as well, but couldn't bother to be too concerned.

"Don't know and don't care right now. Let's just hurry and claim on before anyone else does."

The first set of cabins they checked would be a waste for just two people to use, containing a queen and a bunk bed. The second set had only a king, but they would rather avoid having to sleep in the same bed. Dean ignored the large-looking cabins entirely and moved onto another small cabin, this one part of a set titled 'Indian Cabins'.

"Yahtzee. There we go, looks like a full bed and a queen."

"I call queen," Sam blurted out before his brother could announce the bed for himself.

"You're lucky the queen isn't in my spot, I wasn't taking it anyway." The full bed was closest to the door, but Dean didn't mind. It would be enough room for him. Sam was taller and would make better use of the larger bed.

"I'm gonna grab our stuff," Sam told Dean, hovering by the door, probably waiting for Dean to offer to join him in helping to carry their stuff inside.

"You do that," Dean said, snickering to himself. "I'm gonna check out our new digs."

Sam opened his mouth to complain, but ended up only rolling his eyes.

"You're the one that will benefit from the workout Sammy, not me! Go work those arm muscles!" Dean called after Sam, smirking when his brother lifted a middle finger.

Turning back to their new home, Dean took a moment to simply take in his surroundings. The log cabin was small but cozy. On one side, both of their beds were laid out and across from that sat a dresser, lounge chair and a small propane stove that would heat the cabins. On the other side of the dresser was a mini fridge and to Dean's delight, a small coffee maker sat on top of it.

Turning his attention to the far side of the cabin, Dean found what would likely be Sam's favorite spot. There was another lounge chair in the corner and a small desk and chair that sat right below the window.

And damn, what a view from the window. Maybe Dean would want to be sitting at that desk often. Looking out at the mountains and forests in the background, as well as the pond right below them and the vast fields...that was never going to get old.

Realizing he missed his favorite room, Dean turned back toward the small entryway. There was the door to the bathroom and Dean feared it would contain a crappy basic shower, ideal for people looking to rough it out in the wilderness.

He grinned when he came face to face with an actual tub, sink and toilet. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was new, nice and clean, other than the layers of dust.

"Using the bathroom already?" Sam's voice came from inside the cabin.

"Not yet, give me time. After we're done exploring, I'm gonna spend at least an hour in there."

"Of course you are," Sam huffed. Dean came out of the bathroom to see his brother standing in the middle of the room, hands on his hips and duffles at his feet. "I managed to carry all our stuff in with one trip."

"Wow, give yourself a gold-star for that, Sammy."

"Can you shut up and help me unpack?"

* * *

Well, at least Sam could say Dean  _did_  try to concentrate on unpacking. He jabbered obnoxiously the whole time, but he was helping.

Then, the sounds of people excitedly exploring outside were able to be heard. Dean kept staring out their opened door more and more frequently to the point where Sam figured they'd give up and finish later.

"Alright, let's go check out the rest of the place. But we are continuing this as SOON as we're done."

"Yes, mom," Dean replied, already out the door.

Sam didn't even get annoyed at the comment. He was thrilled to see Dean so eager about their new home. A few months ago, Dean didn't want anything to do with the people in their group, avoiding any kind of conversation unless forced upon him. Now, he actually seemed excited about being a part of their community and helping it thrive.

While everyone seemed busy determining their living situations, Dean took off toward the pool. Sam followed him, stopping when he saw the gross, murky green water.

"Sonuvabitch." Dean frowned, looking down at the contaminated water.

"Hey, what did you expect? Besides, it's not like you'd get sick from going in." Sam focused on his powers, teasing Dean by pushing him, yet holding him in place before he fell in.

"Oh screw you Sam!" Dean fought against his powers to no avail. "Like hell I'd go into that shit. If you drop me, I swear I'll…"

"Relax, you germaphobe. I'm not that stupid. I'd be feeling your wrath for the next month."

"Damn straight you would."

"What the hell are you two idjits doing?"

Sam turned around to see Bobby standing several feet away. His hands were on his hips and he was shaking his head, an amused smirk playing on his face.

"Sam's harassing me." Dean called out, even as Sam placed him down safely on the ground.

"Good, he deserves to after all the shit you put him through." Bobby then turned, pointing into the distance where a building could be seen. "You can figure out how to clean that disgusting swamp later. Right now, I wanted to check out those houses over there."

Sam frowned, squinting to try and see the building. Bobby was right, it was a house, and there was more than one. "I didn't even notice them. What do you think they are?"

"I'm guessing they were probably where the owners and their family and friends stayed while here. I want to make sure they're empty and see what goods we can find. You boys in?"

Dean, who had perked up at the mention of looting for goods, nodded. "Hell yes."

"I'm for it, but shouldn't we finish checking out the rest of the ranch first?" Sam asked.

"There'll be time for that later. Besides, everyone else is running around inspecting everything. Let them get it out of their system and then when we come back, we can explore in peace."

"It's not that far away, I can teleport us there…" Dean paused."...well probably not the both of you all the way, but I can get us close. Gotta start practicing going further anyway."

Bobby eyed Dean warily. "Better not give me any motion sickness, that's all I'm gonna tell ya, boy."

"Pssh, the motion sickness would be your fault, not mine. I can't control how your damn body reacts."

Before Bobby could begin to complain, Dean reached over and grabbed his shoulder. Sam took the signal and held onto Dean's shirt. A second later, they were about half a football field length away from the house and only Bobby had to regain his balance, but didn't fall.

"Not bad," Sam smirked.

Dean beamed at the compliment. "I know, I'm awesome."

Bobby shook his head, walking toward the house with a sigh. "Focus incase we find something in here. Get your weapons ready. I don't need you two fooling around."

"Cas already checked the area." Dean rolled his eyes.

"With how damn quiet it is out here, someone coulda heard us coming and hid in the forest. Don't get too damn comfortable just yet," Bobby warned.

 _Old man's gonna drive me insane. He's as paranoid as hell,_ Dean's voice entered Sam's mind.

_Can you blame him? Hunters always have to prepare for the worst, especially in unfamiliar areas._

"Now, let's watch the area for…" Bobby stopped with a sigh as Dean walked past him and went right into the nearest house, gun drawn. "Or just follow the impatient, idiotic demon and hope we don't get killed!"

"I heard that!" Dean called from the house, causing Bobby to smack his head at how loud Dean was being. "And there hasn't been anyone in here for months, dusty as hell. Now get your asses in here!"

Bobby gave Sam a look that read 'please tell me you're on my side with this' but Sam only shrugged.

"I talked with him, Bobby. He said he's going to try and not make rash decisions."

"And this isn't a rash decision?"

"No, I don't think so. Cas checked the area already, there would be signs of danger or occupation nearby if anyone was here. He feels safe, I feel safe. I trust his judgement."

"You know I do too, Sam. It's hard to let him take the lead when I feel it should be me watching out for you boys."

"You do, Bobby. Back after we escaped Hades town, if it weren't for you using that demon-blood-bowl-call, Dean would have never known where you guys were and we probably never would have found you."

Dean peeked his head out of the front door and yelled, "Are you two gonna sit out there and chit-chat about feelings all day or are you gonna come in and help me ransack this place?"

Sam laughed, walking into the house only for Dean to punch him in the arm. "Stop gossiping about me!"

"You know I'm not! And I'm actually supporting you."

The embarrassed flush on Dean's cheeks showed Sam that Dean did know this, and perhaps being praised made him more uncomfortable than being talked down upon. Dean could retaliate in anger if anyone talked negatively about him, but when it was something good...he didn't seem to know how to react.

As expected, Dean ignored the conversation and instead grabbed something off a dusty shelf. "Take a look at this. Found it in one of these drawers."

He dropped a pair of keys into Sam's hands. "Okay, keys? So…"

"Take a look around you and guess what these keys belong to."

Sam did, taking a look at the inside of the house for the first time. The room they were standing in was a kind of foyer that was attached to the living room. He walked there, peeking a glance at the tall-arched ceiling and the balcony that belonged to the hallway of the second floor. It was a nice house, not cabin-esque like the places they would be staying in at the ranch, but it wasn't gaudy either.

"I don't see what you're talking about." Sam frowned.

Bobby, who had entered the house and was busy examining the perimeter for any signs of danger, sighed. "The walls Sam, look at the walls."

Oh. This time, Sam noticed the few deer heads, and the framed picture of a family, a mother, father, two daughters and a son, all holding rifles and posing in front of a deer one of them obviously shot.

Hunters. The normal kind.

"This girl is badass, I wish she was still around." Dean grabbed a picture that was sitting on the shelf. It was one of the daughters, now grown and looking to be 21, holding up three dead ducks with a smile on her face.

"That's gross." Sam frowned at the poor animals. Sure, they had to hunt now, but for it was a necessity for food, not for sport. "You never liked hunting animals until we had to do it."

Dean frowned, putting the picture down. "I don't, I just think she's tough. She'd be great in…"

"Dean!" Bobby glared at him, giving up on looking out for any threats.

"She'd kick your ass in bed!" Sam shot back, causing Bobby to send daggers his way for encouraging the conversation.

"I know! That's how I like it! Why'd you think I'm so interested in Jo?"

"Oh my god, you are lucky you're not trapped in a devil's trap and being shot up with holy water by Ellen, watch what you say, boy."

"Ellen likes me now."

"She won't if she hears that!"

Dean shrugged. "Jo can make her own choices. Let's find the damn gun cabinet."

* * *

After a bit of searching, Dean found a large chest in what seemed to be the parents' bedroom. He grinned, going in to try the key on the lock, only to discover that the chest was already unlocked.

"Huh…" he mumbled to himself, slowly opening the lid. What awaited inside was exactly what he feared...absolutely nothing.

"Hey, you found them?" Sam approached Dean, walking into the bedroom.

"Damn thing is empty! Shoulda figured someone already took them with the keys just laying out on that shelf…"

A look of worry made its way onto Sam's face. "Someone already took them...do you think they're coming back?"

"There's a thick layer of dust on everything! No one has been here in forever. Wherever they went with these guns, they obviously never made it back."

"I wonder why they left with all the guns...this place is so safe…" Sam frowned, trailing off.

"Let's not worry about it. Let's tell Bobby what we found and keep looking for other supplies we can use."

Bobby was of course just as worried as Sam. He ordered the boys to be on more of a lookout as they made their way through the rest of the house and then the second one. The whole stealth thing was stupid, as Castiel had already walked along the whole area and sensed no signs of life. By the time they made it to the third house, Dean had no patience left.

Ignoring Bobby's order to scope out the house before entering, Dean walked through the front door and into the kitchen, raising his lip in disgust at the foul smell coming from the fridge…

He did a double take. There was a note on the fridge from nearly exactly one year ago, hastily scrawled.

_7-14-2010_

_Emily,_

_I waited as long as I could. Mom and Dad left a few weeks ago to find Uncle Mike and Aunt Becky. They had gone to find Grandma and Grandpa. No one ever came back. I know you said you'd make sure you would make it here, but I'm not stupid. I know you're probably gone. I know the others are probably gone too. Still, I have to have hope, that's what our cousins are telling me. I have to believe that you're still out there. You just got held up somewhere, ran into trouble. I have to believe that the rest of our family might still be alive too._

_So we're going out, all of us together. Jack says we're stronger as a group, I think he just wants us to all go down together, so no one is left waiting for someone to come back, like we were. We talked last night, we both realize that if no one came back, it must be a lot worse out there than any of us could imagine. But we can't just keep living knowing that we didn't even try to save our family. The guilt is killing us, and I'd rather die out there._

_We're leaving tomorrow morning. If you by some miracle make it here and see this message, know that we never made it back. I'm sorry little sister. Please, know how much I love you and how sorry I am that I didn't wait. We had to take a chance and try to look for the others, I know you'd have understood._

_There's a bunch of food left for you in all three houses. Take as much as you can. We took Uncle Mike and Aunt Becky's hunting rifles, but I managed to convince Jack to leave one of them for you. It's on your bed upstairs, along with some ammo._

_Take what you can from here and leave. Find others. If you do, and if you can trust them, bring them here. Or stay with them if they have a safe place to stay. Just do anything you can to survive, don't give up. Please._

_I love you little sis._

_Zack_

Well, that explained where the rifles had gone.

"Dean, can you at least try and listen to Bobby...wait, what's wrong? What are you reading?"

"Nothing's wrong, everything is actually making sense now. We don't have to worry about people coming back here, the ones that took the guns were family members that owned the ranch. This note is a year old, they croaked a long time ago." Dean handed over the note to Sam, who got teary eyed five seconds into reading the letter.

After reading, he wiped at his eyes and sighed. "Do you think she ever made it?"

Dean shrugged. "Doubt it, but there's one way to find out, checking if the gun is still there on her bed."

They didn't even make it all the way up the stairs before the air took on a disgusting, rotten scent that Dean knew all too well from his decades in Hell. Sure, in Hell the souls didn't have actual skin and bones, but they sure did a good job of replicating it in all senses of the word. Every day, he smelled rotting flesh from the tortured souls that some demons refused to heal, hell, he'd even done the same thing himself, and this smell was identical, but much more real.

One glance at Sam and Bobby showed that they understood as well. They might not be as used to the scent as Dean, but as a hunter, and with the state the world was in, there wasn't a shortage of dead bodies.

Wanting to get the discovery of the dead body over with so Sam and Bobby wouldn't mope for too long; Dean followed the scent to where it was the strongest and opened the bedroom door.

The sight was exactly as Dean expected. Half rotted body of a young woman on her bed, hole in her skull and blood sprayed on the wall.

Sam gasped in horror and Bobby let out a deep, sad sigh. Dean walked over to the body, holding his breath. He grabbed the rifle that she used to kill herself and grinned.

"Well, thanks for the gun." He rubbed the gun lovingly, much like he did the Impala and practiced aiming. "This is a damn nice model…"

"Dean!" Sam scolded. "Have a little respect!"

"For what? She's dead, she doesn't care."

"Speaking of dead…" Bobby moved the bed sheet over her body, covering the gruesome sight. "Wouldn't her spirit still be lurking around?"

Dean shrugged, not paying attention to anything except for the beauty of the weapon in his hands. "Cas would have sensed it."

"I think…" Sam's voice was still sad, and while Dean thought it was stupid to be upset over some dead body, he still hated knowing his brother was hurting in any way. "She ended up making it all the way here only to find out her family had given up on her and went out on a death-mission. She had to have been devastated, but once she realized she wasn't able to move on after she passed, I bet she left to try and find the spirits of her family."

"Aaand…I bet the demons captured them all and sent them to Hell," Dean finished.

Sam turned to face him, frowning, his eyes watering. "Dean. Really, quit it. Have some hope. Stop making fun of everyone else's sorrow for two minutes."

Dean instantly felt bad, not for the dead chick, but for Sam. "You know that's not what I'm doing Sam. Just trying to lighten the mood and basically saying I'm glad it's not us. I just can't help it sometimes." He paused for a moment, looking down at the ground. "Sorry."

Sam's mood seemed to instantly get better. "I know you can't. And it's okay." He even smiled a little bit. "Let's finish looking through this house and transfer all the stuff we found back to the ranch. Then, can we...please bury her?"

Now that was something Dean could understand. He never liked to see so many bodies just lying around and always believed in a proper hunter's funeral. Sure, burning the corpse wouldn't stand a purpose anymore, but burying was better than nothing.

"Yeah, we can do that. I'll even dig since you'd take eight hours with your pansy human arms."

"Hey, what else are demonic brothers for?"

Bobby smacked his forehead. "I swear you two will be the death of me. If you would stop bickering for two minutes, you'd see she left a note." He handed it over to Dean, obviously having already read it when the brothers had been talking.

_I can't do it anymore. There's no point, I would never make it anyway. I know my family is dead._

_Sorry to whoever sees me like this. I just wanted to do it in my own room of my favorite vacation home. I'd like to be buried here, if you don't mind._

_I actually don't know if anyone will read this, but if you are, you're lucky. You're probably a previous vacationer, because there's no way anyone else would find this place. You made a good choice coming here. It's safe and secluded, and I hope you are able to make use of it like my family should have._

_We started to plant crops over by the dining hall, it's a good area to grow. We let our horses free, but they are probably still in the area, granted you aren't reading this 50 years later. My family took our hunting guns with them, but at least I can hand you over this one. Take care of the place, I hope it will be a safe haven in this messed up world._

_Good luck,_

_Emily_

Dean turned to Sam, who had been reading the letter over his brother's shoulder. "Well, looks like no one's coming back to this place. We're safe."

Sam shook his head sadly. "That poor girl, she was so hopeless, yet wanted to give others hope."

"Yep, now  _we_  have hope." Dean steered Sam away from the body, wanting to move on to happier things. "Let's search this house, gather up everything we found, and get it back to the ranch. Then we can bury her."

Dean walked out of the room, opening the door to another bedroom...

And walked right into a spider web, complete with a big, fat juicy spider in the center.

He screamed, wiping at his face furiously and scrubbing a hand through his hair in a paranoid fashion. Glancing down at the floor, he located the spider and effectively squished it. "Damn it!"

Sam and Bobby burst out laughing.

"Oh yeah, nothing to worry about in here, right boy?" Bobby shook his head in amusement. "Strollin' in here all confident and then having a panic attack over a bug."

"It's not just any bug, it's a damn massive spider!" He never liked the things, and it had been right in his face!

"You should have seen him back when we were spending a summer at a cabin." Sam snickered. "A spider was crawling on his face as he was sleeping, and I could have sworn my 16 year old brother was replaced by a five year old girl."

Well, if Sam wanted to play that game, Dean wasn't going to show any mercy. "Spiders are a rational fear Sam, now about let's talk about your stupid  _clown-phobia_."

Sam recoiled. "At least I'm not a  _demon_ scared of bugs."

"I specifically remember you saying that 'those hideous characters should belong in torture-chambers, not kid's parties.'"

"At least I don't scream and panic."

Dean narrowed his eyes. "Just you wait, Sammy," he said before disappearing downstairs, the laughter of Sam and Bobby following in his wake.

* * *

"Now what?" Dean asked Sam.

The brothers were standing in the field near the cabins. They had easily transported everything back due to Dean grabbing items with his powers and teleporting back and forth.

Sam was impressed that Dean didn't even seem tired from all the teleporting. Sure, it had just been him going back and forth and short distances, but it seemed like he was becoming stronger. Now he just had to practice teleporting one or two people multiple times quickly. Sam had no doubt his brother would be able to do it.

Everyone was going through the belongings and supplies they collected, Marcy was taking charge of the food and the others were going through clothes that would fit them. There were other things as well, such as batteries, flashlights and books. Sam was itching to sort through them…

"I know, let's check out the cafeteria."

"But Dean." Sam pointed to the piles of supplies. "We should help."

"We gathered all that shit, we shouldn't have to help organize it too. Come on." Dean smirked, using his powers to move Sam forward.

With a huff, Sam used his own powers in order to force Dean to let go of him. "Fine, let's check it out." He couldn't deny he was curious as to what their new cafeteria was like.

They walked past a huge outdoor pavilion, under it were about a dozen picnic tables and a huge stone oven and an outdoor bar.

"Hell yes, I can't wait to cook in this baby." Dean was investigating the oven, sticking his entire head inside it.

"See, you don't mind helping Marcy in the kitchen. I say you should do it twice a week."

Dean glared back at Sam, emerging from the stove and then shrugged. "It's not so bad, she lets me taste-test everything. Plus, I can spit in your food."

With that, he took off, running toward the log cabin cafeteria.

Sam sighed deeply. The happiness of being on the ranch was bringing out Dean's five-year-old mentality. It was bound to be annoying, but Sam would be lying if he said he didn't miss it.

The outdoor pavillion dining area was just a hundred feet from the indoor cafeteria hall. Sam walked inside, immediately feeling at home.

The room was huge, filled with many more picnic tables than they would need. There was a big fireplace against one of the walls and numerous chairs to sit in around the windows. It had a cozy, yet open, feel to the space.

"Hey, Sammy. Look!"

Sam glanced up to see Dean standing in a loft area. "What the hell is up there?"

"Why don't you come look and find out for yourself."

Sam climbed up the steps, rolling his eyes once he saw what was in the loft. It was an activity area, with a pool table, TV and some arcade games.

"Don't give me that look, there's stuff for you too." Dean pointed to a corner, where there was a bookshelf and a little reading nook.

"How am I going to be able to read up here with your loud ass playing pool?"

Dean shrugged. "You tune me out most of the time, shouldn't be a problem." He grinned suddenly, running down the stairs. "I have an idea, follow me."

Sam was losing count of how many times he sighed at Dean's antics today. Regardless, he followed his brother outside of the cafeteria and to the east, past the cabins and toward the river that ran through the area just south of the ranch.

"What are you doing?" Sam huffed. "Do you want to go fishing?"

"Hell no, I just wanted to get away from everyone. Listen, wouldn't it be cool to scope out this entire area easily?"

Sam scrunched up his face. "Just come out with what you're trying to say."

Dean smirked. "But I like watching you get frustrated trying to figure crap out."

"Dean."

"Fine, fine. I want you to set me free in cloud form to go scan the area from overhead. That way we could get a layout of the area. I could spot if there's any other random cabins nearby and if there's any lakes not too far from here where we could have an easier chance fishing. Could try and see if any of the horses are still around." Dean gestured to the horse stable that they had found to be empty of horses, both alive and dead.

His eyebrows raising in surprise, Sam had to say he was impressed with his brother's idea. "That's actually really smart," he said, watching his brother's stance grow confident and cocky, at the praise. He pictured what Dean would be seeing from the sky, and could just imagine how beautiful it would be. "I wish I'd be able to see that, too bad you can't grab people in cloud form and fly them around."

Instead of teasing his little brother, like Sam thought he would, Dean looked thoughtful. Sam let him muse on whatever he was thinking about and a few seconds later, Dean snapped his fingers.

"Hey, I know. Remember back in Hades' town when I was able to share what I was seeing and hearing? Why don't I try that again?"

Sam's eyes got huge, interested in this possibility. "Yeah, but you only did it once. Didn't it leave you kind of tired and you weren't sure how you did it?"

"I was probably tired mostly because I was so agitated in that town and nervous about that asswipe finding me. And now, I couldn't be more relaxed. I'm sure I'll be able to get it to work again, it'll be fine."

"Alright, let's try this," Sam agreed. "But if you feel any sort of pain when you try to share with me, you get right back down here."

Dean huffed, but agreed. Sam proceeded to easily pull Dean's soul free, but before the older brother could take to the sky, Jo and Sadie approached them. The women stared at Dean, looking both amused and confused.

"What are you guys up to now?" Sadie asked. She was smiling, but Sam could tell that her heart wasn't all the way in it. Something was bothering her, and he made himself a note to talk to her as soon as he could.

"Dean wants to check out an aerial view of the ranch and see what's nearby." Sam paused for a moment, debating if he should share the next bit with them. After some internal deliberation, he decided to let them know. They already knew he had some powers and a unique link with Dean, so why not? "He's going to try and share the view with me."

"Oh, like he did when he was out trying to possess Hades?" Sadie asked.

"Exactly." Sam nodded, forgetting that Sadie had been in the room when the vision-sharing had occurred.

Jo raised an eyebrow and shook her head at Dean. "You tried to possess Hades? How stupid can you be?"

Sam laughed upon watching his brother's soul spark and listening to Dean cursing in his head. "To be fair to him, he didn't know it was Hades. Even though I did try and warn him…hey!" Sam grabbed onto his arm where Dean had just angrily zapped him.

_You talk shit about me anymore and I'm not sharing anything with you._

_Then I just won't put you back in your body._

_Fine by me, you'll just be left to bury my rotting body. Could you do that to your poor brother, bury me again?_

_Nah, I'd just dump it in the river._

Sam was proud of his answer when Dean actually didn't have a comeback. He smirked at the black cloud that was his brother.

 _Damn, you're actually getting good at this._ Dean chuckled. _And here I thought you'd get all mopey and emo after I said that._

_Hey, I'm not serious all the time. I'm learning from you, jerk._

_Well you won this round, just don't get used to it happening again._

Dean shocked Sam one more time before zooming up to the sky. Both Jo and Sadie seemed to be in awe watching him. It was too bad they wouldn't be able to share the view, but Sam was happily selfish that this was something only he and Dean could share together.

 _Ready for this, Sammy?_ Dean asked. Sam could barely see him, he was so high up in the sky.

Sam turned away from the girls, looking off in the direction that Dean flew off to. _I'm ready. Take me flying._

Much like last time, the scenery in front of Sam abruptly changed. One moment, he was looking out past the stream, and the next, he was staring down at the ranch, from hundreds of feet in the air. The vast change in altitude shook him up, and Sam felt himself start to fall forward as the vision-sharing started to break apart.

_Focus Sammy, I can feel you freaking out. Relax or you're gonna topple over and break the connection._

_I'm suddenly transported a mile up in the air and you expect me to relax?_

_It's not a mile. And you're not really here, just seeing what I'm seeing. I promise I won't do any flips or fly too fast, I know your weak-ass stomach couldn't handle it._

_I wouldn't be calling me a weak ass. I'm not the one that got scared by a spider._

_Shut up and enjoy the view._

Sam did as he was told. It was a surreal experience, being disconnected from himself in a way and unable to control what he saw, yet still being able to feel his body. It was like he was in two places at once. He was seeing right through Dean's 'eyes', and not for the first time did Sam wonder where in Dean's cloud form he was able to see from.

But that wasn't important. What _was_  important was what Dean was doing, scanning the area. Sam refocused on what Dean was seeing, and had to catch his breath upon viewing the area from this vantage point. It was simply beautiful, a stunning view of an area filled with the most natural sites he had ever seen.

Mountains hugged every side of the ranch, although the field that ran to the north helped it feel more roomy and less trapped. The only road snaking out from the area was the one they arrived on, but there were a few smaller trails here and there. The stream that sat south of the cabins traveled west-to-east and disappeared into the forest.

Speaking of forests...they were everywhere. Sam studied the scenery as Dean began to drift slowly away from the ranch. The entire area was full of what seemed like a never-ending forest with a few clearings of fields, similar to the larger one at the ranch, which were scattered about.

 _I'm going south,_ Dean informed him. _Looks like there's a lake down here. Do you see it?_

Sam could see it, and it was beautiful. The lake was small, surrounded by hills with the south hills being full of trees. It was almost as if nature was protecting it.

_Bet we could get some nice fish here. I say we find a canoe somewhere and just take it out on our days off, relax._

_That sounds perfect. Dean...I can't believe we got so lucky to find such a secure and beautiful place to stay and build a life._

_I wouldn't call us lucky by a long shot, but yeah, it_  is _pretty awesome._

Dean lowered down slowly and skimmed the surface of the lake lazily. It was then when Sam was suddenly overwhelmed with a blissful feeling. He had already been extremely happy and thrilled at what he was seeing...but this emotion, it was much more intense than anything he felt before. It was as if he was experiencing a whole other set of emotions on top of his.

Almost like he was feeling another person's happiness…

Sam wasn't just seeing and hearing what Dean was, he was also feeling his emotions as well.

Sam tried to disentangle his own frame of mind from Dean's and what he was left with was excitement, bliss, and also...a very calm contentment.

 _From your sudden silence I'm guessing you discovered our new freaky power,_  Dean said suddenly.

 _I...yeah...it's..._ Sam found he couldn't find words. It was amazing, yet strange at the same time. He decided to skip trying to explain the feeling and went right in what he had noticed. _I...you're so...content...like you're pleased with something._

_Of course I'm pleased, look how awesome I am._

Sam huffed, deciding to drop the subject and just be lucky that their connection was so intense, that they even shared the ability to know if the other was internally suffering or happy. He focused back on the lake that was shimmering in the afternoon sun. He wanted nothing else than to reach down and touch the water. It was too bad they couldn't  _really_  fly.

 _I could feel how happy you are._  Dean said, startling Sam.  _It...it just made me so damn glad I could do something like this for you, share this with you. I don't know, I'm just glad you're feeling better._

Of course, Dean's mood would reflect on Sam's own. Dean had felt content upon hearing and feeling Sam's own happiness. The younger brother bet there was a time, back when he had been feeling so down about the world, that Dean was afraid he'd lose him in one way or another to his own inner demons.

Sam wanted to say so much, yet he went with a simple, honest response.  _I am happy. And you don't have to worry about me. This is awesome, and it will only get better from here._

Sam wasn't sure if Dean was going to respond, and he ended up not being able to find out as he suddenly heard someone yelling his name. The scenery seemed to spin around him, and a moment later, he was no longer viewing the lake, but seeing through his body again. Feeling disoriented and a bit nauseous, Sam fell backwards onto his butt.

"Sam...Sam...Sam!" It took a minute for the younger Winchester to realize his name was still being called. He blinked to clear his vision and saw Sadie and Jo kneeling down next to him, their expressions were mixed with horror and confusion.

"What?" he asked, standing up shakily.

The women stood up as well, both staring at his face intently. Finally, Jo spoke up. "Your eyes...they were black. Like a demon's."

"It's from sharing vision with Dean, right?" Sadie asked, calming down. "I didn't see your eyes get like that when you did this at Hades' place, but like this time, you weren't facing us. And I'd never walked in front of you to see if they were."

The news did have Sam a little anxious, but he was sure that Sadie was right. Dean wouldn't have tried this with him if there was any chance of it being dangerous.

"I was sharing vision with a demon, it would make sense that I kind of...reflected his eyes."

At that moment, Dean came buzzing back. He sparked in front of Sam nervously, obviously trying to communicate with him. With Sam being so shaken up and dizzy from the shift in perspective, their telepathy link probably temporarily weakened.

Luckily, putting Dean back in his body didn't take much energy. Once the older brother was back in the flesh, he marched up to Sam. "What the hell was that? Where'd you go? What's wrong?"

"Sadie and Jo were calling me. I heard it and just kinda got...sucked back into my own vision?"

Dean turned to the women, glaring. "What was so important that you had to bother him? We were in the middle of…"

"His eyes turned black!" Jo shouted.

Dean cocked his head to the side and after a moment of contemplation, shrugged. He didn't seem worried in the slightest. "That makes sense. Of course they did, he was seeing through my eyes, not his own. Did they go back once he was seeing things through his own eyes?"

Jo rubbed the back of her neck, embarrassed for probably the first time that Sam had ever seen. "Uh, yeah."

"Thanks for ruining everything." Dean huffed and started walking back to the cabins.

"Yeah, I doubt you'll stay mad at me for long. You can't go a day without flirting with me." Jo called after him.

"Hey, I'm a flirting machine; don't think you're anything special."

Sam rolled his eyes. "You're a jerk."

Dean paused and turned around, smirking. "True, I am. But at least I'm not afraid of women like  _someone_." He then narrowed his gaze at Sam and Sadie. "Now come on, why haven't you at least attempted to make a move on her? You love the strong, loud-mouthed, independent girls. And c'mon Sadie, I may be the better looking brother, but Sam's not  _that_  bad, in his own way. Plus, he's all overly nice and mushy and can tune into your emotions and crap."

Sam simply smirked, looking over to Sadie. He was glad to see that she was smiling too.

Dean's smile turned into a frown of confusion. "That's not a  _we did have sex_ smirk, that's a  _Dean, you're an idiot smirk_. What the hell aren't you telling me!"

"Well Dean, I love you trying to look out for your brother. That's kind of mushy in itself," Sadie's smile grew upon seeing Dean's look of fury. "And he is very nice, it's just…" she sighed dramatically. "Too much facial hair, not enough boobs."

At first, Dean just stared at her blankly, his eyes wide with confusion. The moment he made the realization, his mouth fell open and he pointed at Sadie. "You… all this time I've been trying to set you two up, and you were never into dudes. And you let me keep trying like an idiot!"

Sadie shrugged. "What can I say, it was fun seeing you embarrass yourself while you thought you were teasing your brother."

Dean then faced Sam, now pointing at him. "And you! How long did you know?"

"Oh, in the first few days in the hotel. We bonded, talked a lot."

Jo suddenly burst out laughing. "And Dean mistook it for luurrve. Oh my god. This is gold. I wish I could have seen all of his ridiculous attempts to try and embarrass Sam in front of his 'crush'. They played you!"

And Dean, to Sam's shock, actually smiled. "I hate you all." He paused. "That  _was_  good. Damn."

* * *

"Dude, wake up. You're going to miss the story."

Dean rubbed at his eyes, groaning. Damn Sam couldn't even let him sleep.

Not that he really should have been sleeping. The group had found a bonfire in one of the storage sheds and filled it with wood. It was Marcy's idea for everyone to sit around it and relax in order to 'celebrate' finding their new home free of any dangers. Everyone had eaten something and Sam had suggested Dean sharing the rest of his stale marshmallows so they could have a more 'proper' bonfire.

After eating what was hopefully the last of the bland meals he'd eat out of a can, Dean had passed out in the grass. It was a beautiful afternoon, warm and breezy but not humid with only a few clouds. As he looked around now, he could see that evening had set in, the sun getting dimmer and the temperature dropping a few degrees.

He realized that being at an elevation as high was they were, even in a valley, the nights would get colder than what was normal in the summer. Good thing their cabins had all had wood-burning stoves. He'd have to remember to snag a bunch of winter clothes the next time he went raiding, those few months were bound to be brutal as hell.

Taking his good old time waking up, Dean stretched lazily, still being careful of his broken arm, and peered over his brother's shoulder. Sam had turned away from him and was now doodling on a piece of paper.

"What'ya doing?" he asked.

"I'm making a map of the ranch."

"Uh, there's not that much to it." Dean didn't see the purpose.

"Maybe not, but there's a lot around the ranch that we should map out. We need to put that lake you found on the map, and eventually everything that we drove by on the ride in. It's important to have everything documented."

That was such a 'Sammy' answer that Dean had to laugh. "Alright, makes sense. Probably a good idea. You want to try the same thing tomorrow so we can get a view of the road and whatever is out there?"

"The flying and vision sharing?"

"Yeah."

Sam  _beamed_ , Dean knew that the kid had enjoyed the experience and every time he saw how happy and carefree it made Sam, Dean felt his chest doing some funky-tightening thing. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Alright cool." Dean looked around the group, suddenly remembering Sam's earlier words that had woken him up. "Wait, 'I'm going to miss the story'? What the hell were you talking about? We having story-time for the kids or something like that? Can I actually tell a  _scary_ hunting story this time?"

Dean smirked as Sam's eyes grew wide, obviously remembering how Dean had wanted to creep out Aiden  _and_  the adults when they had been in the forest after leaving Hades' town. "No! I'm never letting you tell a story again. Cas was going to tell us a story of one his experiences on Earth a long time ago."

"You think he was around back with the dinosaurs?"

Sam raised his eyebrows. "What? I...I don't know. Maybe? Probably?"

"That would make a  _damn_  awesome story."

"I'm back!"

Dean turned to see Carl walking up to the group with...two bags of popcorn?

"How the hell did you make that?" Dean questioned.

Carl began passing the bags around. "A microwave, genius."

"Oh yeah, a microwave that runs on electricity, that we don't  _have_." Dean snarked right back.

Carl shook his head. "Where have you been? The whole cafeteria building runs on solar panels."

"He was busy flying around like a dork," Jo said.

"I was flying around  _scoping the damn area_ , you know...in order to keep you idiots safe?"

Instead of arguing back, Carl looked over to Castiel. "What about those stories of yours?"

Castiel looked like a deer in the headlights. "I am not sure what story you wish to hear."

"Dinosaurs," Dean said before Sam could stop him. "Come on, you gotta have a story about dinosaurs, right?"

Everyone was staring at Dean either as if he were crazy or rolling their eyes. But he could tell that these people  _were_ interested. It was dinosaurs, who wouldn't be?

Castiel's brow furrowed, as if recalling something. "Yes, I do. I was even eaten once."

Dean clapped his hands in glee while the rest of the group's mouths opened, turning their attention to the angel.

"Oh boy, that's gold. How the hell did you manage that?" Dean was laughing so hard, he had tears in his eyes. He pictured the trenchcoat-wearing angel quizzically staring up at a tyrannosaurus-rex, studying it as it reached its head down for a quick snack.

"I took on the form of a Stegoceras while on a mission to observe the odd behavior of a group of herbivores."

"Wait, wait, wait. You were actually a Stegosaurus? You possessed a dinosaur?" Dean nudged his brother, who's eyes were wide in amazement. "And here I was picturing you looking like you do right now."

Castiel glanced down at his vessel with a befuddled expression. "You are aware that this was billions of years before my vessel was born, and that there were no humans at all…"

The group started snickering, and even Dean laughed, having to admit that he had been an idiot in thinking Castiel had been walking around with dinosaurs while looking like a human.

"And I was not a Stegosaurus," Castiel continued. "I stated that I was a Stegoceras. There is a stark difference between the two."

"I don't care. Get to the part where you get eaten."

"It was not pleasant."

"Yeah, obviously, you idiot. Explain it. Go into great detail…"

"Dean enough. He got eaten. How do you think it feels?"

"I know exactly how it feels. But it's a  _dinosaur!_ How did he manage to get out? Did he rip his way out of its stomach, did he cause the thing to implode? Or maybe in his rage of getting eaten alive, it was  _him_ who caused the dinosaurs becoming extinct. _"_

Sam frowned, looking sad instantly. Dean glanced around to see that everyone else was as well. What the hell? He was just trying to be stupid and funny, were they really that upset about him making fun of the angel?

"You were...eaten?" Sam said quietly, his voice shaken. "Dean…"

Dean couldn't help but laugh. "Seriously? You're gonna focus on that?  _All of you_  are gonna focus on that? Yes, I got chopped up and cooked alive and fed to demons and hellhounds, along with a shit-ton of other crappy stuff, blah blah blah…"

"Crappy isn't the word I'd use for it," Carl had spoken up, clearing his throat.

"Yeah, that's...that's...terrible, horrifying…" Heather looked at Dean with big, sad watery eyes.

"Oh my god. You're all dense." Dean ran a hand down his face. "It's over and done with. I  _don't care_. I'm not down there anymore, that stuff isn't happening. I'm right  _here_ , in our new safe, awesome home. I don't want to hear about whiny human feelings, I want to hear about the damn dinosaurs!" He made a point to glare at his mopey brother during the majority of his rant, trying to get rid of the sad, pitying look in Sam's eyes.

Half of the group stopped looking sad, and instead started rolling their eyes. The other half still looked sad, yet slightly offended. The only person that didn't fall into those two groups was Sadie. She was staring at him rather intently, almost as if she was studying him. Before Dean could yell at her and demand that she tell him what her problem was, someone spoke up.

"Okay, okay. Sorry for caring." Carl crossed his arms across his chest and huffed.

"Yeah, you all should be sorry." Dean then turned and pointed at the angel. "You, finish your story. What happened after you got eaten?"

Castiel went right back into his story as if the whole interruption and Dean's ranting had never happened. "My body began to reform while in the stomach of the Tyrannosaurus. I was bursting its insides. Instead of causing the creature to slowly suffer, I decided to claw my way out."

Finally, the attention was off of Dean like he had wanted. Everyone was now staring at Castiel, most with their mouths open in either horror or awe.

Dean started laughing again, shoving some popcorn in his mouth as the bag got passed to him. "So you...in your dinosaur body, ripped your way out of the T-Rex's body? Are you shitting me?"

Castiel frowned. "I now understand your terminology of the word 'shit' mostly refers to feces. I did not 'shit' when I did so. But perhaps the Tyrannosaurus did since I was…"

"Dude, stop! That's not what he…" Carl was hiding his face in his hands. "It's a phrase, it doesn't literally mean...oh forget it."

"So, while you were reforming yourself, you managed to tear through the body?" Sam asked.

Dean stared at his brother. He had NOT expected Sam to get back into the story after what he had found out happened to Dean in Hell. He expected Sam to mope and sit around being sad, maybe even excuse himself from the group.

But Sam looked over at Dean and offered him a little smile. He was trying. He understood on some level that he had to try and look past what he learned and not dwell on it.

Instead of smiling back, Dean stuck out his tongue, just like he would when they were kids. Sam rolled his eyes and just like that, everything was back to normal.

Dean didn't even mind that he had missed the rest of the dinosaur story.

They sat and listened to a few more of Castiel's adventures. Dean figured the stories would help take Sam's mind off of what happened to his big brother in Hell. He knew that Sam would want to talk about it or attempt to comfort him, but Dean was glad Sam was holding back and respecting his unspoken wishes to not talk about it.

For Dean's part, he was doing his best to make Sam laugh by making idiotic comments in response to the angel's stories. Hopefully Sam realized that this was Dean's way of trying to comfort _him_ and let him know to stop worrying, that everything was good.

They had a new place to call home and a chance to be safe while they plotted how to stop Eve. This was a time to be happy for once, and Dean was gonna make damn well sure they were both able to do that.

The brothers decided to retreat back to their cabin early. Dean demanded that he take the first shower and Sam didn't complain. After Dean was freshly washed, he went to tell Sam he could take his shower, only to find his little brother sitting on their front porch. Sam had his head resting on his arms, which were laid out over their wooden railing. He was staring out at the sun that was just beginning to dip below the mountains.

Sam made no indication that he had heard Dean step outside, so the older brother casually walked next to the bench, leaning back against the wooden post that supported their awning.

He simply stood there, smirking at his brother, for a minute before Sam finally recognized his presence and jumped up off the bench.

"Oh, hey...I was just…"

Dean ignored his brother's stuttered ramblings and stared out at the scenery that his brother had been so entranced in. He could see the appeal, the ranch was a piece of the earth that hadn't been touched by the horrors of the Croatoan virus. It was peaceful and serene.

He looked back to see Sam turning away. "I'm gonna go in and take my shower…"

"Hey Sammy."

Sam paused. "What?"

"I want to show you something."

Sam cocked an eyebrow, but walked over to join Dean, standing against the railing. Dean grinned, but that only caused Sam's confusion to turn into worry.

"What's wrong? Why are you smiling like that?"

Huh, did he really smile so little that Sam was anxious about the gesture?

"Look at all that Sammy. It's ours. We finally made it."

Sam still looked confused, but he seemed to relax the longer he stared at his brother. "Yeah, we did."

Dean laughed lightly. "We're safe here. We can relax. And we made it here in one piece." He paused, turning to look directly at Sam. "Come here."

Dean didn't wait for Sam to figure out what he meant by that statement. He reached over and hugged his brother with his good arm, holding on tightly. He heard Sam let out a watery laugh before he wrapped his arms around him too. They stood there for a few moments, Sam occasionally sniffing, before Dean patted his brother on the back twice and pulled away.

"Well, we mostly made it here in one piece. Can't forget Allen."

"Dean!" Sam's sniffles quickly subsided. "Dude, that's not funny!"

"Yes it is."

"No, it's morbid and cruel."

"Go take a shower, you reek. I bet the stench is embedded into my clean clothes now."

Sam flipped him off before walking inside. Dean counted to three in his head.

"Dean!" His voice was angry.

"Yeah?"

"Where the hell did you get a memory foam mattress for your bed?"

"From that dead chick's house."

He could just picture Sam shaking his head in disgust. "Was THIS what you were doing while I was helping to bury that poor girl's body?"

"Yep."

"I hate you."

"Don't worry, I'm sure I can grab you one too."

He heard the bathroom door slam and Dean smirked to himself. Much better to have Sammy annoyed with him than feeling any kind of pity.

He went into the cabin and plopped onto his bed, instantly sinking into the memory foam that molded around his body and sighed. Now this...he could get used to. He hoped tomorrow would be a day off, Dean didn't think he'd be able to move from this spot for the next 24 hours.

He was just about to drift off when he heard Sam get into his not-as-comfy bed. "Night Sammy."

"Yeah, yeah, don't try to suck up to me now."

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading! Let me know what you thought :)


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm still here! I'm really sorry about such a long break, but I have to be honest...the story was just not coming to me. I would try to write and just couldn't get going. I wasn't inspired and I was also struggling with the show at the same time. I didn't want to hurry and rush out something that I wasn't satisfied with. I didn't want to give you guys a chapter that didn't have any heart to it.
> 
> So, I decided to wait until inspiration hit. It took some time, but I finally found the desire to get back to the story. And once I started writing, I couldn't stop! I have a renewed passion for this series once again. I'm sorry it took so long but I am glad I took a step back from the story and took a break. I needed to do this in order to get a good chapter out.
> 
> Thank you to everyone for waiting. Thank you to those still reading for all of your support and comments! Even though sometimes there might be longer than average breaks between chapters, this story isn't going anywhere. I'm never going to abandon this series, I've spent way too many years on it! It will definitely have a conclusion.
> 
> Thank you to my friend Katie for helping me out with this chapter and offering me suggestions!
> 
> Thank you to my beta Gabi for going over this chapter, making edits and offering advice AND for getting it done so quickly!
> 
> NOTE: We last left off with the group finding the ranch.

 

**Two weeks later**

"Sam, Sam! Is the pool ready yet? Can we go swimming?"

Sam sighed, turning around to face Aiden and a few of his friends. He had been heading to breakfast in the dining hall, or what the community had been calling 'The Lodge'. Dean had, unwillingly, gotten up early to help Marcy prepare the meal. They were still working on a consistent schedule for all the members. For now, they were all pitching in by doing tasks that would help get the ranch up and running.

"You guys, Dean is still working on finding all the pool equipment we'll need."

"Yeah, but he already cleaned it out!" Emily pointed out. Her and Aiden were holding hands innocently; it was cute.

"Yes, but he has to find the chlorine and...uh other pool stuff to get the water just right. It's already August, we…" Sam paused, he knew the tantrums that were bound to come and didn't want to deal with the fallout. He'd hold the blame on Dean this time. "I mean,  _Dean_ says it's best to wait until next summer, since we would only have a few weeks to use it before it gets cold at night."

"What?"

"Why!"

"That's not fair! We could be swimming now!"

"But I thought Dean  _liked_ swimming!"

Sam ran a hand over his face as the kids kept complaining. All the voices blended together into shrill shrieking and he knew he had to say something to calm them down. "There's a lot of work to be done here. We have to focus on the more important stuff first, like food and making the ranch safe. You understand that, right?"

"How would you like it if you were swimming and a Croat jumped in and ripped off your arm?"

Sam turned, horrified and saw his brother standing there, dirty apron still on and a  _hairnet_  in his hair. He looked ridiculous and it was almost funny to see someone dressed like that making a comment such as that one.

"Dean, really? Stop scaring them."

"Well it's the truth." Dean shrugged at the kids whose eyes were wide in fear. "And the truth hurts, kiddos"

"Will that really happen, Dean?" Aiden asked, looking over at the pool with a spooked expression.

"Yep, if we don't get some kind of protection around this place, anything can get in and kill you. That's why we have these rules for you kids not to go out at night and to stay within certain areas. If I'm fixing that stupid pool, then I'm not able to help get this place protected."

Dean was able to do what Sam wasn't, get the kids to all agree and stop complaining. It was harsh and probably would leave them all scared for a while, but it  _did_ work.

"Now stop standing there crying and go eat your damn food. I had to spend two hours with Marcy yapping in my ear, you better enjoy it." Dean squinted his eyes at Sam. "And don't even say anything about my outfit."

"Who, me? I'd never do such a thing." Sam couldn't help but chuckle a bit, following Dean and the kids into The Lodge where most of the group was already there, receiving their meals.

"I already made our plates, they're over there." Dean threw his hairnet and apron in a bin in the kitchen and then sat down with Sam at one of the far lunch tables. Upon seeing their plates, Sam groaned.

"Dean, stop filling up our plates this much. This is worse than what you did two days ago. How are you getting away with this?"

"Maybe I'm sneaking it behind Marcy's back?"

"You don't even need as much food as we do!" Sam rolled his eyes when Dean gave him a black-eyed death glare. "I'm not saying you should give yourself less, but you shouldn't give yourself more! And my plate has even more than yours!"

"Complaining that I'm trying to take care of you, Sammy?" Dean sounded irritated, but smirked.

"I don't need special treatment. I should get as much as the rest of the adults." Sam got up with his plate, but felt a force pushing him back down. He could fight it, but he let Dean use his powers.

"Don't put some back! She'll know what I did! I'm not sitting through a lecture with her. Just...eat it today and I won't do it again."

"You better not or I'll tell her and then she'll probably give you less food."

"Okay, okay! I promise. Just shut up and eat. You should be grateful for having such a caring big brother like me."

"Yes, so grateful that you're willing to have me overfed while everyone else starves!"

"Sammy, always the over-dramatic one." Dean took a massive bite of food and purposely chewed with his mouth open.

"You're disgusting." Sam took a bite of what he believed was fried Spam and beans. "How come you are even able to make Spam taste good?"

"That's because I'm awesome. I bet the days when I cook, the food is way better."

Dean was grinning so huge that Sam couldn't bare to tell him that he didn't taste much of a difference. "Totally." It would inflate his brother's ego, but it was probably worth it.

"Knew it." Dean, with his recently healed arm, shoveled another forkful into his mouth and they continued to eat mostly in silence. Most of the time, they sat like this, at a table by themselves. Sam would be a little worried about Dean not interacting with the other community members, but he was out with them the rest of the day. While Sam didn't mind eating with the others, he figured Dean needed a bit of alone time to decompress.

After finishing off the last of his canned fruit, Sam spared a glance around the room. A lot of people were leaving to begin their days but a few were lingering and talking. One of the kids had a soccer ball and was currently picking out teams to go play in the field. Everything seemed good until Sam saw Sadie. She was sitting alone and picking at her food.

Sam knew he couldn't leave her like that, so he stood up. "I'm going to talk to Sadie and see what's wrong."

Dean looked over at her and cocked an eyebrow. "She's been mopey lately. Yeah, see what you can find out." His shoulders then slumped. "I don't want to help clean up the kitchen. We're just gonna use it again for lunch, what's the point?"

"The point is keeping it clean so there's not build-up and contamination. The last thing we need is food poisoning. Can't you...use your powers to clean up faster?"

"My powers aren't magic, Sam. I can't use them to clean dishes. Well, maybe I could, but that would be exhausting." Dean grabbed the plates and sulked back toward the kitchen. He'd have lunch duty off and go back to work on dinner. In the meantime, he was helping Carl formulate ideas to build some kind of fence around the perimeter of the ranch.

It was funny, Sam couldn't imagine the Dean of a few months ago to be putting up with helping with tasks such as this. He definitely could refuse and hold his power above everyone else. Yet now, albeit with a good amount of complaining, he took responsibility for his tasks and didn't back out. This was probably why he was accepted so easily into their group, where before at Bobby's, there had been a clear distance between him and the rest.

Sam turned back to face Sadie and headed over to her. If Dean could be so happy and relaxed in their new home, why wasn't she able to be?

"Hey, Sadie." Sam sat down across from her and smiled.

She looked up, slightly startled and gave him a small smile that seemed forced. "Hey, Sam. Tell Dean the food is really good."

Sam looked down at her half-finished plate. "You don't seem to be eating a lot of it." He looked down and blushed. "Sorry, that was rude."

Sadie gave a small laugh. "No it wasn't. I just told you it's good and you can see I haven't really touched it. It really is good, I just...I haven't been feeling really hungry."

"Do you feel sick?" Sam asked her.

"No, it's not that. I'm just...I guess I feel really worried. Anxious. Yeah, I've been feeling that way a lot and I don't know why."

Sam frowned. "Do you feel like we aren't safe?" He thought back to his conversation with Sadie in the woods. It felt like forever ago and his memory was hazy. "Or...are you thinking about your friend?"

Sadie pushed her food around on her plate. She was quiet for a moment before clearing her throat. "Uhh, well part of it is. I just...I feel responsible for so much. Not just for Nikki, but for losing the hotel. I was supposed to be the leader. I helped get the place going and I wasn't able to protect us. I should have had more security measures in place."

"Sadie!" Sam made his voice stern but not unkind. "You couldn't control that. There's no way to stop all those Croats. Eve and Alastair had us spotted and were going to come no matter what. Actually, it should be me feeling guilty. We joined your group in that hotel and that's the only reason you guys came under attack."

"Sam!" Sadie looked up at him and he saw that there were tears in her eyes. "Please don't blame yourself. I'm so glad you guys came. You opened up the truth to us. Even with Ruby, we wouldn't have known the half of what was going on. I think she was always going to lead you guys to the hotel anyway. I really believe that without you guys, we'd be dead."

"And without you and your group and hotel, we would probably be dead as well. You have to believe that, Sadie. You did as best as you could there. We all did. And now it's time for us to start over. We can learn from our mistakes and do better this time."

Sadie rubbed at her eyes for a quick moment and then nodded. "I know. And I want to do better. I probably never should have picked a location as open as the hotel was."

"You couldn't have known everything that was out there."

"I know, but once I did, I should have made us search for a new place."

"Maybe we all should have. But we were happy. And we thought we were safe. I know we lost people, but if there's something I learned from Dean it's that we have a lot of people left too. We can't let the things we've lost bring us down when we've done so much good too."

"We do have a lot of people still left," Sadie agreed." And it's part of what is getting me nervous. It's just...people keep coming up to me. They are asking for advice and what to do next and...I can't do it Sam." She let out a long sigh, as if a weight had been brought off her shoulders.

"You can't what?" Sam asked, nervous.

"I can't be the strong one anymore. I can't be the leader. I know it might make me weak but I can't handle the responsibility of possibly letting these people down again. Not after Nikki, not after the Croat attack."

All of Sadie's actions seemed to make sense now. She was overwhelmed and worried. Sam thought he had felt responsible for the lives of their community, but Sadie really felt so much more.

"That doesn't make you weak, Sadie. It's actually really brave of you to admit that. You shouldn't have to handle more than you feel you can. You need to focus on your mental health first."

"But what do I do? Everyone is expecting so much from me. I just had Lexi and Jason ask me how the jobs schedule is going to be created and what the next steps are and I can't…"

"Sadie, hey." Sam reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to decide anything. Who says that running the community has to be a one person job? It shouldn't be. I think that maybe we should have a council of people that decide the rules and jobs. That way you won't be alone."

"Who says I would be on it though?"

"Only if you want to."

Sadie shook her head. "I don't know if I'd want to. And that's not for me to decide. It would be the people. They should decide every last person who should be on it."

Sam squeezed her shoulder before letting go. "Then that's what we'll do. In the next few days we should hold a meeting and discuss the idea. If people agree we'll have a vote for the members. It's simple as that."

This time when Sadie smiled, it seemed genuine. "Thanks, Sam. Really, thank you."

"Please don't thank me. Just take care of yourself, okay?"

"I'll try. I promise." Sadie then started eating her food with more enthusiasm. Feeling that his job was done and Sadie would prefer to be alone now, Sam got up and went to check on Dean.

"How's it going?" He asked, stepping into the kitchen.

Dean glared at him, hands in the soapy sink water. "Care to get off your lazy ass and help?"

"Hey, I was talking to Sadie, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. How is she?" Dean looked at Sam as he asked, genuinely wanting to know. Sometimes, things like this still surprised Sam.

"She's feeling kind of stressed out and overwhelmed. I told her we'd talk about having a meeting and voting on a council of members who make the rules and jobs. This way she won't feel the responsibility is all on her."

Dean nodded, turning back to the dishes. "That actually sounds like a good idea. People better vote you in. Hey! I can be your campaign manager."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Yeah, no thanks. And just so you know, you could get voted in too."

Dean barked out a laugh. "What? No demon discrimination?"

"Nope."

"Yeah, like I'd ever get voted into that. And like I'd even want to."

"People like you, Dean."

"Enough to be in charge of things here?"

"Your decisions helped us survive when we were out there. You saved a lot of people. It would probably be good to have you on the council with all you know."

"Yeah, yeah. If that happens, I'll do your laundry for a whole year." Dean shuddered at the thought. For some reason, he really hated doing laundry. Sure, they were doing it the old fashioned way, but Sam didn't find it too difficult. While there were still a working washer and dryer, they figured they would save the generators for the more important things, like kitchen appliances or emergencies.

"Well?" Dean continued, turning back to Sam. "Gonna help or not?"

"Hey, I'm not on kitchen duty. I told Bobby I would help him with a few things."

Dean held up a soapy middle finger. Sam ran out of there as soon as he heard Marcy scold his brother, snickering as he did so.

* * *

Sam took the long way on his way to go meet Bobby. He loved walking around the ranch and taking in everything that was going on. It was peaceful and the scenery that surrounded it was beautiful to look at. He walked along the edge of the stream behind the cabins and watched a few people who were fishing. Their buckets were pretty empty as of now, and Sam wondered what would be on the menu for dinner tonight. Dinners usually consisted of fish, rabbit and once, deer. They hadn't done as much hunting as they could have, since they had to focus on getting the ranch running and had more than enough canned food to last them a while.

After passing the cabins, Sam walked left past the large field where the kids were playing their soccer game. Dean had put together makeshift wooden nets to keep the kids busy and that, along with the original ranch playground, seemed like it might be enough to keep them from whining about the pool for the rest of the summer.

He waved at a few kids as he passed, walking back by The Lodge and the garden that was being tended to. The plot of land had been created by the former occupants but it was long overgrown with weeds. People were busy planting whatever crops they could for fall and trying to fertilize the dirt. It was a good thing Dean had found the packets of seeds back in that hardware shop, because they hadn't found many on the ranch.

Sam didn't know a lot about gardening or farming, but he hoped they would have something fresh to eat in the near future. Canned food, deer and fish was bound to get tiresome quickly, although he wouldn't complain. Dean on the other hand…

Laughing at the thought of his brother, Sam carried on toward the houses. They had started to create a small dirt path that would lead directly there, although it was rough and only partially done.

Before he got to the homes, Sam took a moment to stare at the mountains surrounding them. He did this often, as the sight offered him a strong sense of security. It felt as if the mountains were wrapped around them, almost like a protective cocoon of sorts. The winters were bound to be brutal, but Sam thought the protection was worth it. As long as they stockpiled enough supplies, they should hopefully be okay.

The intense snow they were bound to get might trap them in the valley for some time, unable to drive down The Path to get back on the main road. With Dean practicing his teleportation, however, he may be able to teleport far enough where he could get close to the road. Dean was going to practice, and once he determined a maximum distance, they would leave a car there so that they could use it to travel and find more supplies.

"You coming Sam or are ya just going to stare into the distance like an idjit?"

Sam looked up to see Bobby staring at him from one of the house's porches. He shook his head and laughed. "Yeah, yeah. I'm coming. Relax, old man."

Bobby folded his arms. "You're spending too much time with that stupid brother of yours. You sound just like him."

Sam walked onto the porch. "Well, what do you expect? He's glued to my side normally."

Bobby playfully whacked Sam on the back of the head. "As if you aren't as well. Now, I wanted to talk to you about these homes, but then I found something interesting in Hades' journal. Up to you which one you want to hear first.

They walked into the house, which Bobby seemed to have cleaned every inch of, and sat on the couch in the living room. "Tell me about the journal first," Sam said, eager to know if Bobby found out any potential helpful information on Eve.

"Alright, so I was looking through some of the back pages where Hades seemed to scribble down random thoughts. The handwriting is all sloppy and he wrote over his own words in places, so it was difficult to figure out but I was able to understand some of it."

"Is it about Eve at all?"

"There's some of him basically cussing about Eve and saying how he was going to destroy her once he had enough power, but there was this one part…" Bobby flipped open the journal and Sam saw just how messy the pages were. It was amazing Bobby could read any of it. "Right here he says 'The first borns and their offspring are immune. If I can find them, I can try and use them to take her down.'"

Sam raised an eyebrow. "The first borns...what does that mean?"

"I believe they're the first monsters Eve turned. Each species of monster has something called an 'alpha', which is the first of its kind. I've read about them but never encountered one. As legend goes, they're supposed to be stronger than the average monster. If what Hades says is true, they are not controlled by Eve's powers and retain their free will."

Sam pondered this information. It seemed like it could be true, but then he remembered the Kitsune he and Dean had encountered in the forest, and the shifter in the library back in Sioux Falls. While both had worked for Eve, they had their free will and weren't mindless robots.

"But we've seen monsters that had free will. Not just in the library but Dean and I also came across one in Minnesota. Neither one seemed overly strong."

Bobby nodded. "I doubt either was an alpha. Which leads me to think they were an 'offspring' of an alpha, like he mentions."

"An...offspring." Sam scrunched up his nose. "I know some monsters reproduce, but a lot just...spread their disease to turn humans."

"I don't think the word is meant literally," Bobby explained. "I think it's exactly as you say. The monsters that were turned directly by alphas are also immune."

"How many of them do you think there are out there?" Sam questioned, he had no idea what to think.

"Probably a few hundred. There was most likely a lot more back in the day, but now most monsters are created by other monsters. I bet the alpha's children that aren't working for Eve are in hiding."

That didn't help them out much, but knowing this information could definitely come in handy. "Do you have any idea how we can go about finding one?"

"No idea, not yet. I don't have that many books left but I'll go through them." Bobby closed the journal. "At least we're better off than we were. If we can find a tame child of an alpha, we could try and ask them for help."

That was if they even wanted to help. Sam imagined that there would be big risks and that the monster wouldn't want to put its life on the line to help them. But maybe at the least they could talk and exchange information. Sam ran a hand through his hair, thinking. It was then that he realized something.

"Hey Bobby, remember when we saw that new monster Eve created? She was planning on using Hades' town to make even more new monsters. Well, wouldn't all those be alphas and immune to her as well?"

"I thought of that as well. But I doubt she would go ahead with making new ones if they could disobey her. She probably found a way to get these new ones under her control. It's the original monsters that she can't change."

Sam nodded, it made sense. Eve had spent near eternity in Purgatory, she was bound to find a way to hone in on her monster-making skills. "One of the Alphas or their children has to know some information on where she is and what her weaknesses are, they have to."

"We can only hope," Bobby agreed. "Now, onto other business, I figured we should do something with these houses. I know they're a ways away from the cabins, but they're nice and roomy. I figure they should be put to some use."

"I think they should too, but do you think it would be safe?"

"We're surrounded by mountains anyway, but I understand your worry, Sam. In case some emergency were to happen, these houses being further away could pose a problem. But once we get some sort of fence around the perimeter and think of some way to communicate from the houses to the cabins, I think one or two could be used to house the kids."

Sam agreed with that idea. "The kids would have more room, I think that's a good idea. Some adults could stay there with them and that would leave a few cabins open in case we get more people."

"Now for the third house, I feel like we should make it a safe-house. I want to protect it similar to the way I did my panic room in my basement."

The idea shocked Sam; he hadn't seen it coming and never would have thought of the idea himself. It would make for a good project. "These houses don't have basements, right? So you'd be warding the entire house."

"Yeah, I'd rather have a basement, but I can make do with protecting the entire thing. I remember all the rituals by heart, but I'd like to give the place iron walls so to speak, coat the outside and inside with sheets of it. It will take a while to find enough, but I think I can get it done over time."

Sam nodded. Even though the walls would be made of iron, Dean would be able to get in with the branding mark that Bobby gave him back when he made the panic room. It allowed Dean to get past any sort of demon-preventing defenses. They had taken advantage of that mark since, painting it on the hotel walls as well so Dean could get past the enchantment that Ruby had made.

Ruby. The thought made him twitch. She also bore the same mark so she could get into the hotel. He didn't like that the demon would be able to get into their safehouse as well. But what were the chances she would find them? And even if she did, what would be her intentions? Sure, she left them at the hotel, but she hadn't sent the Croats after them. She had been simply saving her own skin.

Pushing the thought of Ruby aside, Sam focused back on Bobby's idea. "Dean and I can make sure to keep a lookout for any iron when we go raiding places. It will take a while, but I think it will be worth it to have a place where we can feel safe in case of any emergency."

"Good. Now enough about that, boy. I found a small cellar out back with a bunch of boxes of canned food. I need some help loading them up into the pickup."

Sam smirked. "What, feeling your age?"

"Enough, smart-ass. You know how much work I've done around here? My back is acting up and last thing I need is for it to go out."

Sam chuckled, but realized soon enough that some of the boxes were pretty heavy and there was quite the stash. Bobby helped with the lighter boxes and they talked a bit more, Sam bringing up his conversation with Sadie and their idea to have a meeting where they would discuss voting in a council. Bobby figured the meeting would be a good opportunity to discuss the information on the alphas and ideas for the homes. They both agreed it would be good to have meetings every other day for now, and once things got settled, to have one every week.

"I better get going and see if Dean got into any trouble," Sam put the last box in the pickup and stretched. It was weird to feel sore from doing helpful tasks instead of from running for your life every day. But he wouldn't complain.

"Yeah, speaking of that brother of yours, tell him I can see he switched out the mattresses upstairs."

Sam's mouth fell open. "How do you know that was Dean?"

Bobby gave Sam a blank stare. "Who else would think to do that? Everyone else is busy focusing on important things, not having a damn memory foam mattress."

He knew he should scold Dean, but in all honesty, the mattress Dean took for him was amazing. He wasn't about to complain when his body was surrounded by memory foam every night. "Well, while we're looking out for iron, we'll keep a lookout for some memory foam too."

"Ha-ha, get going, smart ass before I decide to clock you in the face."

"Sure you would, old man."

"Call me old man one more time and I just might."

Sam laughed at Bobby's empty threat and walked out toward the field.

* * *

"A wooden barricade is a stupid idea; it's going to rot too fast."

Carl dropped the wood he was holding onto his pile and narrowed his eyes at Dean. "Why don't you tell me your great idea then?"

"Make it from like...steel or something."

"And how would we find enough steel? How would we create it into a wall or fence? We're surrounded by a forest, Dean. We're using wood."

" _Going to rot_ ," Dean sing-songed. He had no idea what had gotten into himself today, but he was in a damn good mood. He'd actually been for the last few days. Maybe it was because he realized that they were actually safe and their new home wasn't going anywhere.

"No it won't! We'll keep it up and check for any repairs daily!"

"You can. I'm not."

"You're an idiot!"

"Then why do you want me helping you?"

Carl looked like he wanted to pick up a slab of wood and whack Dean in the face with it. "Go knock down more trees with your stupid demon powers and leave me alone." Carl paused, his half-hearted anger dying down. "And take someone with you."

Dean fought not to make some sarcastic remark. They had a rule that had been set immediately. No one was to leave the general area of the ranch alone. He knew he was the strongest person here and more than capable of taking down anything that was in that forest, not that anything there would be able to cause him harm anyway. But he would play along with the rule. If he were to disobey it, then other people might, including the kids. He didn't need some kid getting hurt or killed because he was too stubborn to go into the forest with someone.

Dean turned around, planning to take the first person he saw. It was Ellen, of course. While she definitely didn't hate him anymore, Dean would rather not spend any alone time with the woman who was once so convinced he was dangerous and evil. But maybe if he took her along, she'd warm up to him some more.

And maybe she'd be less naggy when Dean decided to spend time with Jo.

"Ellen," Dean barked out. "You're coming with me to go knock down some trees."

Ellen turned to face Dean, befuddled. "And what if I was in the middle of something?"

"You weren't. Come on."

Ellen looked like she wanted to protest but then relaxed. "Okay fine, if it gets me away from these screaming kids."

Dean looked over at the kids playing soccer. "They're not that loud, and I'm the one that usually can't stand their voices."

"You love them, Dean, don't play stupid with me."

Dean was offended. How dare she lie so blatantly like that! "I don't…"

"Drop it, 'cause I'm not buying it. No one is."

"You believe what you want." Dean brushed her off and began walking out toward the forest, not caring if she was following or not.

He didn't turn around, but he could hear Ellen's footsteps behind him. Luckily, she didn't seem to be in the mood for talking. Dean thought he got out easy with a quiet partner until he stopped to cut down one of the trees. It was then that Ellen started talking.

"So, what's it like being a demon?"

Dean turned to face her, mouth hanging open. It wasn't often that he was left with a loss for words; he always had something to say. In this moment, however, he had no idea how to react to such a question.

And Ellen was just standing there, leaning against a tree. Her expression was unconcerned and relaxed.

"What...what the hell kind of question is that?" Dean found himself spluttering.

Ellen shrugged, unbothered. "It's something I've been wondering ever since I decided I didn't want to send an iron blade through your heart."

"You know that wouldn't kill me, right?"

"Yes, Dean. It just sounded more violent than 'send you to Hell'."

"Ahh, I see. Well, thanks...I guess." Dean felt awkward. He just wanted to cut down the damn tree in silence.

"Sure, now what about that question?"

Dean sighed. He didn't feel as angry at her nagging as he expected to. "What about it?"

"Don't play stupid with me, Dean."

"I honestly have no idea how you want me to answer that. It's...fine? It's good. I honestly don't really remember anything different."

That finally got Ellen's expression to change. She was shocked and if Dean didn't know any better, almost looked a little sad as well.

"You don't remember being human?"

"I have all my memories. But I don't remember how it actually felt to be different than I am now."

"But how you are with Sam never changed," Ellen pointed out. "That's part of being human, caring for and loving someone else."

"That's different," Dean scoffed. "That's part of who I am, not with being human."

"Isn't turning into a demon all about losing who you were?"

"I don't know! You lose your ability to feel certain things and care about a lot. That happened to me. But they couldn't take away Sam. There's different stages to this stuff."

That comment seemed to intrigue Ellen. "There is? It's not just that you change and that's it?"

"Hell no, if there was, I'd be just like Alastair. You wanna compare my soul to his? You wouldn't even think I was a demon after looking at him."

Dean didn't expect Ellen to become quiet. "Oh, I understand."

"No, you don't understand, you can't. And that's good, no one needs to understand that shit. Now, can we cut down this damn tree?"

Even though Ellen was mainly tagging along to just so Dean wouldn't be alone, he still let her help with cutting down the tree even though it wasn't necessary. Dean was much quicker and stronger, and in a matter of minutes had chopped at the base enough to where he could use his powers to push the tree down.

Before the tree could land on the ground, Dean used his demon powers to keep it floating in the air. Ellen's eyebrows raised as she stared at it.

"How much can you lift with your mind?"

"Eh, I don't know. More than I could a year ago. I can't hold this for that long, let's get back before I drop it and wake up every living thing in this forest."

"Okay, but the walk took a little while. Are you sure…"

Dean didn't have the patience to answer and instead grabbed Ellen's arm. The two of them, as well as the floating tree, were teleported back to the ranch. He was even within a hundred feet of where Carl was standing. Not bad.

Ellen raised her eyebrows, glancing around her, seemingly disoriented. "Next time, can you tell me before you decide to do that?"

"Figured you'd talk me out of it if you did."

Ellen paused. "Yeah, probably would have."

"Come on, it's fun, isn't it?" Dean placed the tree down in the pile, Carl paying them little attention.

Ellen folded her arms and Dean could tell she was fighting her stubbornness not to agree. "It...wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

"Hah! Knew it. Ready to go again?"

"No! Give me a minute here. I said it wasn't bad, but I still got a little dizzy."

Dean impatiently waited for Ellen to gather her bearings and then teleported them back to the forest. They got a few more trees before Carl said that he would be good for a while.

Dean stretched, not sore in the slightest but playing it up like he had just put in a great amount of effort. Since that went by so quickly, he figured he could go take a nap back at his and Sam's cabin. He did enough helping for right now.

He headed toward the cabins, stopping when he heard Ellen call his name.

"What?" he asked, not caring to hide the irritation in his voice. He was tired and wanted to sleep.

"Thank you. For everything you've done. You put up with a lot of shit from me and probably from a lot of the others at some point when you should have been receiving gratitude. Thank you for not giving up on us despite everything."

Dean stared at her for a few long moments, feeling extremely uncomfortable. "Ugh, stop. Bring back the mean Ellen, this is weird."

"You black-eyed, cocky ass! I'm trying to apologize here!"

"There we go, back to sassy Ellen."

"Would you rather have me out to kill you rather than trying to form a relationship with you?"

"Honestly, you and your daughter threatened us with guns the moment you met us. I wouldn't expect anything different."

"You're a jerk." Ellen huffed.

"That's Sammy's line, you can't say that."

Ellen threw her hands up in defiance.

Dean grinned.

* * *

Of course Sam had found Dean sleeping in the cabin when he returned from Bobby's. If he hadn't heard from Ellen that Dean had helped out cutting down trees, Sam would have scolded him.

As it was though, Sam waited half an hour before waking Dean up and telling him that they should head out down The Path before lunch time to go scavenging in some of the buildings along the road.

It had been Dean's idea to name the one road that led into and out of their ranch, and so 'The Path' it was. Dean thought it sounded cool, Sam just let him name it in order to make Dean happy and have him shut up for a bit. It was a consolation prize for Dean not being able to rename the ranch, which he had wanted to be called 'Deanmon Den' of all things. Sam shuddered at the idea and the cheesiness of it. When they did decide to name the ranch, it would be voted on by all members of the community.

They were at their third stop currently, already having stopped at a cluster of cabins and a campsite.

Finding something of use, Sam called out to his brother. "Hey Dean, check this out."

Sam gestured to his brother to join him in the shed, but of course Dean was too busy poking the disgusting slime in the pool with a stick.

"DEAN!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

Sam stared down at his makeshift map that he had been holding. Right now, they were at another small ranch about halfway down The Path that was named 'Starcrest Ranch' and was made for personal use rather than recreational like their ranch had been. Sam tried to keep the map as updated and accurate as possible, but it was difficult to get the scale correct as he was no cartographer. He made sure to give every landmark a name. This was necessary so they knew what lake and stream they were talking about when giving directions. This area was so off the beaten path that topographical maps didn't list names for anything.

Dean popped up behind him. "Dude, what did you want to show me? Stop staring at that thing. You're gonna give yourself an aneurysm worrying about how perfect it looks."

Sam tucked the map into his pocket before Dean could slap it out of his hands. "Look in these bins. Chlorine and all pool equipment. Probably enough to keep ours running for a while."

"Awesome!" Dean's face lit up, just like Sam knew it would. This would help ensure that they could get the pool running next year and in return, keep the kids happy.

While Sam was investigating the rest of the shed, Dean had already teleported multiple times back and forth to the truck they had taken with them. All of the pool supplies were gone and packed away.

"How much more do you think we can fit in there?" Dean asked.

Sam took a look. They had a few generators, but other than that, most of the stuff they had collected wasn't huge. "I think we can fit a bit more. Why don't we try the farm a few minutes up The Path? It might have some good stuff."

"Ugh. Fine, but if we miss lunch because of this, you're gonna have to take my next kitchen duty."

Sam sighed.  _Of course._

They drove for a few minutes and pulled up to the abandoned farmhouse. Sam went to get out of the truck, but Dean put a hand of his shoulder to stop him. When the younger brother turned around, he noticed Dean's frown.

"What is it?" Sam asked, instantly on alert.

"This place...it feels weird. Something's off."

"Like...someone's here?"

"Not exactly. I don't know what it is. I feel something in the air. There's...tension or something." Dean shook his head suddenly, as if he just experienced a sensation he couldn't explain.

Sam went to put the truck back in drive. "We should go back home."

"And let whatever I'm feeling follow us back home? Hell no. We're checking this out." Dean's wary expression suddenly turned excited. "Maybe there will be something to kill!"

"Dean...really?"

"What? Maybe there's something here to hunt. Exciting!"

"No, Dean. That would be bad, Dean." Sam spoke slowly, like he was talking to a toddler. "That would mean Eve found us and is sending out her minions!"

"If there's something here, it's not a minion! It would have found us by now and wouldn't have hung out at a farmhouse. Plus, I'm sure we'd be getting a whole army of her monster-slaves marching in to kill us." Dean opened his door. "Come on, get your weapons ready, let's check it out."

It was tough to grab a few weapons with not knowing what they were dealing with. They each grabbed a variety, with Dean proclaiming that he would probably be able to handle whatever it was with his 'amazing demon powers'.

They hid in some overgrown bushes for a few minutes, peering at the farmhouse and waiting to see any sign of life. When they saw nothing, Dean gestured that they should move forward.

 _Stick together, or split up?_  Sam asked, hoping Dean would go with the former.

_Stick together. We don't have any idea what we're dealing with, gotta watch each other's backs._

_What's this feeling you're getting? Any example of feeling this before?_

_It's just that I know something ain't right here. I've felt similar things when there were Croats nearby, but this isn't quite it._

_All I know is that when you have a feeling something isn't right...you're...well, you're right._  Sam paused at the front door. _Are we busting our way in or sneaking?_

_Let's check the windows. If it looks clear, then whatever is here is hiding. I'll teleport us in and then we can quietly take a look around._

They each peered in a window on either side of the front door. Sam was looking into an empty living room which led into an open kitchen. It was completely deserted. He let Dean know and waited for his brother's response.

_I've got nothing on my end. I can kinda see into some bedrooms, nothing in there. This place looks dusty as hell, no one's been in here for a year! Or maybe even before the Croatpocaylpse. Maybe I was wrong…_

_I noticed the dust too, but that doesn't mean anything. I trust your instinct, Dean. And we have to check this out for the safety of our community. Let's get in there and see._

Dean walked back over to Sam, and as soon as his hand touched his younger brother's shoulder, they were inside the living room. They both stood silently for a minute, but when nothing came running out of the other rooms to attack them, they began to move.

Sam looked down at the floor as he tiptoed forward, noticing the way he actually left footprints on the old wood floor. Dean wasn't kidding when he said this place was dusty.

Dean, for his part, wasn't even walking. Sam had to look away to keep from getting whiplash with the way Dean kept appearing and disappearing. He was teleporting himself around the house, partly to be stealthy, but Sam assumed it was also to annoy his younger sibling.

Searching this house gave Sam deja-vu back to the time he and Dean were searching another farmhouse that had belonged to the grandma ghoul. It was eery how similar the situation felt, except this time, they were in broad daylight and Sam didn't doubt the demon with him was his brother.

 _Hey Sammy, up here._  Dean's voice entered Sam's quiet thoughts. Looking around, Sam didn't see his brother anywhere.

_Where did you go now? I can't keep track of your vanishing acts._

_I said 'up here' idiot. Which means, hmm you know, upstairs? Doesn't take a genius to…_

_God, you're annoying. Shut up, I'm coming._

Sam found his brother in the first bedroom on the left. He was staring at the top of a dresser and when Sam walked in, he pointed triumphantly at it.

At first, Sam didn't notice anything. It was an average dresser, the top filled with things belonging to a girl. There were lotions and perfumes, a jewelry box and a metal tree that was used to hang necklaces on its branches. Jess had one that had looked very similar.

_It's a dresser Dean, congratulations. Unless you're excited to put on some women's perfume, I don't see what has you so worked up._

_It's not what's on the dresser, Sammy. It's what's NOT on the dresser. I'm pointing at something for a reason, look at it!_

So Dean wasn't pointing at the dresser in general, but rather something on it. Sam followed his brother's direction and saw that he was pointing at an empty spot. He was about to make another snarky comment, when he saw that while the dresser was coated in dust, the spot that Dean was pointing at had a perfect circle that was free of any particles.

Sam thought back to his footprints. Whatever had been in that spot had been moved recently, or else it would have been filled with dust once again. But yet, there were no footprints through the dust on the floor, other than them.

 _Maybe whatever was here was knocked off the dresser by an animal?_  Sam suggested.

 _Uh-uh._  Dean shook his head.  _If it were pushed off, it would have left a clean trail through the dust to the end of the dresser. This is a perfect circle, so this was picked straight up. And I think I know what it was._

Dean walked over to the other end of the room. There was a shattered snowglobe laying on the floor, against the wall. He picked up the base and walked back, placing it over the circle in the dust.

It matched perfectly.

 _It was thrown…_  Sam realized.  _But, there's been no evidence otherwise of anyone being here. How is that possible? There's no tracks in the dust. Nothing's been stolen from this place. There's still food in the cupboards. Even if someone had gotten in, why would they come in just to throw a snowglobe?_

_Well, what can pick things up sometimes, but isn't actually corporal, so wouldn't leave any tracks?_

_Ghosts._ Sam blinked, impressed at how quickly Dean had came to that conclusion and discovered the evidence of possible ghosts. By the smug grin on Dean's face, he was too.  _But, aren't you able to see ghosts? Why haven't you noticed them?_

_They're probably hiding. Or maybe they ran once they noticed us. Let's check out the rest of the property to make sure._

They didn't notice anything else out of the ordinary in the house, except for one of the old TV screens being shattered. It could have been like that before the place was abandoned, or could have easily been caused by a ghost. It was too bad they had left their EMF meter back at the ranch because they could have used it to confirm the ghost theory and easily track down their location.

Dean was getting giddy as they went outside and entered the barn, claiming that his feeling was getting stronger. Meanwhile, Sam was getting a feeling of his own. Something didn't seem right, and while he didn't doubt Dean's hunch about a ghost, there was this nagging voice in the back of his mind telling him that there was more going on.

But what could they do? They needed to check it out. Who was better equipped to handle it than them?

They stood in the center of the barn, hearing nothing but the sounds of nature coming from outside. There were no obvious signs that anyone or anything had been here recently.

"Well, this is lame. Let's...search around I guess." Dean sounded bummed.

"You're upset there's nothing here trying to kill us?"

"Kinda? Yeah."

"Dean, we want this area to be safe. We're going to make this our permanent home."

"Stop lecturing me. There was something here! I know it. I'm never wrong, damnit!"

Ahh, so this was an ego issue. Dean was upset that he had actually been proven wrong for once, that he wasn't some great know-it-all.

"Aww, are someone's feelings hurt?" Sam chuckled, ducking behind a stack of hay as Dean retaliated by sending a horse saddle flying toward his head.

"Yeah, laugh all you want. You saw that snow globe! You know it was picked up and thrown!"

"I mean, yeah it looked like it, especially with how the dust was around it. But it could have easily been...one of the people that lived at the ranch." Sam didn't even believe his own words.

"You saw the note they left Sammy, they've been gone for months. And if they had been in this house, they would have taken the food in the kitchen." Dean paused, squinting at Sam. "Why the hell would one of those people choose to throw a snow globe anyway?"

"I don't know! Why did  _anyone_  choose to throw it?"

"Look, there's like...a loft up here. I'm gonna check it out."

Sam peaked over the haystack. "But the ladder is…" He sighed when Dean teleported on top of the loft. "...broken."

Turning his attention away, Sam went to check in some of the horse stables. The most interesting thing he found were a family of mice. He was about to turn around and tell Dean that they should just move on, when he heard a yelp. He turned around just in time to see his brother falling down from the loft...with a pitchfork embedded into his stomach.

"Dean!" Sam reached out with his powers immediately, stopping Dean's sharp fall and bringing him to the ground gently. By the time he ran over to his brother, Dean was already ripping the giant pitchfork from his body and standing up.

"Dean, what…" Sam stopped talking when Dean held up a bloody finger to his lips and then reached into his backpack to pull out a rock-salt loaded shotgun. Sam mimicked his brothers movements and kept his eyes locked on the loft above them.

 _This pitchfork just flew right at me before I could react...but I didn't see any ghost…_  "Sammy!"

Dean shoved Sam to the ground as the same pitchfork that Dean had thrown came lunging right at them. Cursing, Dean held out his hand and caught the tool after he summoned it forward. Immediately upon touching it, Dean sent it bursting into flames, melting the metal before extinguishing the fire with his mind.

If they weren't in such a dire situation, Sam would ask how Dean was able to put out that fire with his powers, but not the one back at Bobby's. The thought was quickly pushed from his mind as Dean spoke, shooting his shotgun at the air in front of them.

"I saw you, you son of a bitch! Don't think you can hide from me!"

"What is it? I don't see anything."

"A damn ghost! It has to be. Fizzled in and out before I couldn't see it anymore. I don't know how the hell they are managing to stay invisible to me, but that just makes it...damn it!" Dean pushed back a shovel with his powers...one that had been aimed right at Sam's head.

"You know…" Dean yelled to the apparent ghosts, his tone snarky and irritated. "...if you guys weren't acting like some psycho-poltergeists, I'd be more than willing to leave you alone. We could have had a nice little chat and my brother here would have tried to be your friend and cried with you over your sad death stories. But now...prepare to get your incorporeal asses kicked."

Sam cocked an eyebrow at his brother. "Really, Dean? You're just going to piss them off…" Sam jumped out of the way when a barrel rolled at him, going nearly as fast as a car. "See!"

"Damnit! Let's get over here!" Dean motioned for Sam to follow him. They ducked behind a shoulder-high haystack pile and peered over the top. "They might be strong enough to shield themselves from me, but I doubt it will last long. We just gotta wait for them to run out of juice and then I can shoot them."

"And then what? We can't get rid of them. They're stuck here."

"Well, what do you want to do?  _Talk to them?_ " Dean hissed.

"Uh, yeah. It's probably the only thing we  _can_ do."

"Then you go right on ahead. I'm not about to try to have a heart-to-heart with a pack of psychotic ghosts!"

Sam went to peek his head over the haystack but Dean pushed him down. "What the hell do you think you're doing!"

"I was going to talk to them! You just said…"

"You don't need expose your head to talk to them! You can't even see them anyway! You want to get killed?"

"Fine," Sam hissed, looking on either side of him and Dean in case something were to fly at them. He cleared his throat, ready to address the ghosts. "Uhmm...to whoever is here, please can we just talk? My brother and I aren't looking for any trouble. We're not here to hurt you…"

"Liar!" A wispy, echoing voice carried through the barn. It sounded like it had once belonged to a male.

"We're not lying…" Sam started, only to be interrupted.

"Demon!" It was another voice this time, sounding more like a woman.

"Send us to Hell! We won't let you!" Sam couldn't tell if this was the first voice, or if it were another male.

 _How many of these things are there?_ Dean asked. When Sam looked at his brother's face, he could tell that Dean was worried. Dean rarely got worried, and that just told Sam how unprepared for this situation they actually were.  _We have to get the hell out of here._

 _But we can't just leave them here in case they follow us back! Just let me try…_  Sam took a deep breath, trying to make his voice sound as calm and reassuring as possible. "My brother isn't going to send you to Hell. He doesn't even know how and I doubt he even has the power to do so. He's not a bad guy, we're just trying to survive and we were only here to scavenge some supplies. We have a group of people with us, we can bring some of them back and they can assure you that Dean is on our side."

There was no response for a few moments, and Sam started to feel slightly hopeful.

"LIAR!" One of the voices accused them again. The doors to the barn suddenly slammed shut and the voices started blending together. Objects were rapidly flying through the air and it was only a matter of time before they got hit or impaled by something.

"That's it! Screw trying to talk to them, we're getting out, now!" Dean grabbed Sam's arm and teleported both of them out, right next to the car. They jumped in and sped away. Sam turned around, looking back at the barn just in time to see the doors fly open.

"Dean, the doors to the barn opened, I think they're gonna follow us."

"Well, it's gonna take them a damn long time to catch up to us with how fast we're going."

"What are we going to do?"

"Fuck, I don't know Sam! I don't know! We finally get this perfect place and now we have insane ghosts that are trying to kill me! Which, what the hell is the point? Because I can't die! Not by pitchforks and shovels, anyway!"

"They're scared, Dean, they don't know. They think you're going to send them to Hell."

"You told them I'm not going to! They wouldn't listen to anything! They're probably raging angry spirits and we can't send them anywhere so we're stuck with them!"

"Maybe they haven't gone crazy yet, maybe we can…"

"They were screaming and throwing things like lunatics! You don't call that crazy? God Sammy, you can't save every damn thing and expect them to see the light and turn good. There's evil shit out there. There's crazy shit. You can't fix them!"

"I'm aware of that, Dean. I'm not some idiot that thinks I can save every monster. You act like if I had a gun to my head, I'd try to talk the monster out of it instead of killing it. Forgive me for wanting to try with a few scared ghosts." Sam folded his arms and stared out the windshield while Dean fumed in the driver's seat. After a few moments of tense silence, Dean sighed.

"I didn't mean that, Sammy. I'm sorry, okay? I just...I don't know what the hell to do!"

Despite the growing fear, Sam couldn't help but smile a tiny bit. "I know, it's okay." Dean was scared and he had lashed out because he was frustrated about how helpless he felt in the situation.

It was a very human thing to do.

"I don't want to lead them back to the ranch, but the rock salt is there and all our weapons," Dean said, blowing out an anxious breath. We'll get back, tell everyone to get armed and meet in The Lodge and salt all the windows and doors. We'll all decide what to do from there."

"Good idea, we'll all be safe while we plan our next move. I also think that if there's any way to get the ghosts to believe us, it would be them seeing the ranch and everyone that lives there."

"I hope you're right, Sammy."

They drove the rest of the way back in silence and as soon as they pulled to a stop back at the ranch, they jumped out, running in different directions.

Sam ran into The Lodge while Dean took the cabins. Upon entering, Sam could smell lunch cooking and heard Marcy call out to him.

"Sam! Where's that brother of yours? He was supposed to…"

"Marcy, we're in trouble. We ran into some ghosts at a farmhouse we were raiding. They are likely heading here. We need to gather everyone in here and start salting the windows and doors."

Sam saw Marcy turn off the ovens before she ran out of the kitchen. "The kids!" she gasped. "I have to go get them."

"No, no. Dean and I will get them. Please stay here and try and keep everyone calm and work on the salt lines, okay?" Sam glanced around and saw that a handful of people had already been in The Lodge, most of them probably waiting for lunch. "Get everyone to help chip in."

With Marcy's nod, Sam took off outside once again, passing a few people who were running into The Lodge. Good, the word was already getting around.

Sam started heading toward the field where he saw the kids playing soccer, only to see that the kids were already lining up and following Castiel toward The Lodge.

"What's going on?" Sam asked him as he approached.

"Dean had gathered the kids, and once I learned what was happening, I offered to bring them to safety."

"Good, thank you, Cas. Do you know where Dean is?"

"He is knocking on all the cabin doors and yelling rather forcefully for the people inside to 'Get their asses to The Lodge, pronto.'" Cas blinked, his expression neutral.

"Okay, thank you. Once the kids are inside, could you please help us round up everyone else?"

"Of course."

Happy with that information, Sam went to search for anyone else he could find. He found Heather and a few others gardening and also got Carl, who was too focused on working and didn't notice the commotion going on behind him.

"Got everyone out of their cabins."

Sam jumped, he had been too anxious and hadn't sensed that Dean had appeared behind him. "Good, that was fast."

"Realized I should start teleporting them to get them there quicker. I think that's everyone."

"What about the people fishing by the stream?"

"They overheard my screaming and ran to safety."

"Good, let's get back…" Sam stopped, remembering his earlier walk to visit Bobby. "Bobby! He's at those houses!"

Dean sighed. "Last one left to be saved after the fire and last yet again. I'll go get his dumbass, you go to The Lodge and make sure they got the salt lines. I'll meet you there in a minute."

Before Sam could say anything back, Dean had teleported away. Sam did as he was told and was met with a group of terrified people. Many were talking in panicked tones, running around with salt bags in their hands. A good amount of kids were crying and a few of them were hiding under the tables, shaking. Carl was distributing weapons and Sam saw that in times of need, Sadie's leadership persona shined through. She was currently directing people around in a calm, but firm tone.

"Sam! Can you get this window over here." It was Heather that called out to him. She was pointing to a window that was too high for her to reach.

Sam grabbed the bag and easily reached up to pour some salt across the bottom of the window. "What about the other window on the other side?"

"Another tall guy got that. I was assigned this side with Lexi, but we're both too short." She looked up to the front of the building. "But how are we going to get that!"

Sam followed her gaze to see her looking at the large vaulted window high above the entry doors. There was no way for anyone to get up there without a ladder.

Sam was about to tell her that Dean would get it, when his brother suddenly appeared about twenty feet in front of him, Bobby in tow. Sam thrust the salt bag into his arms and pointed at the window.

Ten seconds later, the window was salted. The only thing left to get was the front door, and now that Dean was inside, it could be done.

A collective sigh of relief was heard throughout the occupants of The Lodge, a few even falling down to sit on the ground, adrenaline depleted.

"Okay, we did it." Dean's voice easily carried throughout the building. "That doesn't mean you can sit on your asses and relax. Everyone should be armed in case they somehow get in. And we gotta think of how we can either rationalize with these things or find a way to trap them."

"Why are they after us anyway?" A voice asked from the crowd.

Sam didn't fail to see the way his brother tensed at the question, but he answered it despite his reluctance. "They saw me and started shouting crap about me being a demon and how they think I'm going to send them to Hell. Tried talking to them but they wouldn't listen."

Dean held his chin up, as if waiting for someone to complain and blame him. In truth, Sam was expecting it as well. It was a surprise to them both when no one yelled or made any sort of comment toward Dean.

"If we can convince them that Dean doesn't work with the other demons and that he's part of our community, maybe then we can talk and work things out," Sam explained. "We just have to think of a way to really get through to them, because they're scared."

Everyone started talking at once, throwing out ideas but Sam couldn't hear them with the jumble of voices all vying for attention. Finally, one voice got through to him, and it was the terror in the tone that got everyone to shut up.

"Sam…" Heather was pointing out one of the front windows. Her finger was shaking and she slowly backed away from the glass. "I think they're here."

Outside of the window, a very angry figure flickered.

Then, the lights went out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you thought :)


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